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Opinion

King: Arizona’s women deserve better than Sen. Barto

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State Sen. Nancy Barto is no doubt celebrating all the anti-abortion legislation that has been triggered by the recent Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade.

After all, she promoted laws in Arizona that would prevent most abortions — with no exceptions for rape, incest or non-viability of the fetus.

Senate Bill 1470, enacted in 2021, not only sought to prevent termination of a pregnancy due to genetic abnormalities and prohibited obtaining medical abortion drugs via mail, it also contained a clause that would prevent abortion from the moment of conception, “subject only to the Constitution of the United States Decisional Interpretation thereby of SCOTUS.”

That decision has now been made. The ACLU of Arizona and the Center for Reproductive Rights have filed an emergency motion to block this clause. Stay tuned.

But that’s not all.

This year, Barto also sponsored Senate Bill 1164, which prevents abortion access to anyone after 15 weeks gestation. I am horrified at the thought of a 12-year-old girl who has been raped by her father being forced to carry a child to term. Not so for Barto, who believes “all life deserves protection.”

OK, so what about the life of that 12-year-old girl? Is her life not also worthy of protection? It seems to me that your statement rings false to any discerning ear.

The fact is that Barto’s views are not pro-life; they are pro-forced-birth. November is coming.

Please remember Sen. Barto’s extremist agenda when you enter the polling booth.

Our strong Arizona women deserve better!