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Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona Endorses Katie Hobbs for Governor
For Immediate Release: Tuesday August 23, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona Endorses Katie Hobbs for Governor
Hobbs earns endorsement of nation’s leading reproductive freedom advocacy group
Phoenix — Today, NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona announced its endorsement of Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs in her bid for governor. Sec. Hobbs has consistently worked toward reproductive freedom since she was first elected to office in Arizona in 2011. In contrast, her opponent, anti-choice extremist Kari Lake, has celebrated the overturning of Roe v. Wade, spread dangerous disinformation about abortion, and advocated that medication abortion care should be illegal. Secretary Hobbs will appear alongside NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona and its members during an event on Saturday, August 27.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:
“Kari Lake is a MAGA extremist who, if elected, will pull out all the stops to ban abortion outright. She has no place in the governor’s office, and it is on all of us to ensure she’s defeated at the ballot box this November. Katie Hobbs is the champion Arizonans need and deserve. We know she will be a bold check on anti-choice legislation coming from a state legislature currently being held hostage by a two-vote anti-choice majority.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America Southwest Regional Director Caroline Mello Roberson said:
“With a state legislature controlled by a slim anti-choice majority and a pre-Roe v. Wade abortion ban on the books, it is more important than ever that Arizonans have a governor willing to fight back for our freedom to decide. Throughout her time in office, Katie Hobbs has been a champion for the overwhelming majority of Arizonans—9 in 10—who know that each of us should have the freedom to decide how and when we start or grow a family, free from political interference. We’re ready to work alongside our 75,000 members across the Copper State to turn the tide in Arizona and make sure Katie Hobbs is the state’s next governor.”
Secretary Katie Hobbs, Democratic nominee for governor, said:
“As reproductive freedom faces unprecedented attacks, I’m proud to have NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona’s endorsement. Kari Lake is out of touch with the majority of Arizonans. Not only does she want to ban abortion, but she says she would sign extreme anti-choice legislation into law ‘in a heartbeat.’ Arizonans deserve a governor who has been on the front lines of this fight for decades, and as governor, I’ll never stop fighting to ensure that all Arizonans can make their own decisions about their lives, families, and futures.”
Sec. Hobbs has been a bold champion in the fight for reproductive freedom, spanning her service as a state representative, as state senate minority leader, and as Arizona’s secretary of state. Sec. Hobbs has made reproductive freedom a top focus of her campaign—sharing her personal story about how the care she received after experiencing a miscarriage is now at risk due to Arizona’s pre-Roe ban on abortion. Hobbs is running for the open gubernatorial seat against Lake, an anti-choice Republican who has repeatedly voiced her intent to uphold the state’s pre-Roe ban. Lake has also used her campaign to spread dangerous disinformation about abortion care.
Arizona’s next governor will play a decisive role in protecting abortion access, as a razor-thin, anti-choice Republican majority currently holds the state legislature. During the 2022 legislative session, anti-choice state lawmakers in Arizona introduced multiple attacks on reproductive freedom, including:
- a bill modeled after Texas’ unprecedented vigilante-enforced ban on abortion (HB 2483);
- a bill which makes providing an abortion after 15 weeks a crime, without consideration for a pregnant person’s circumstances (SB 1164); and
- a bill which would prohibit physicians from providing medication abortion care (HB 2811).
The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; and people with disabilities.
These endorsements come as NARAL Pro-Choice America, the organization’s national arm, is ramping up its work to elect candidates up and down the ballot during a critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country. Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.
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For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.