As part of a national effort, Tucson Democrats will commemorate the 51st anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the United States, and call the November election to protect women's freedom. It was a “clear choice” between the law and further prohibiting women's freedoms. Abortion and contraception.

On Monday morning, Tucson Mayor Regina Romero was joined by former state senator (and current House candidate) Kirsten Engel, state representative Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton, Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grilava, More than a dozen people participated, including Pima County Recorder Gabriela. Cazares-Kelly.

“For 50 years, 50 years, Roe v. Wade has stood as an essential pillar of freedom,” Romero said. “For 50 years, Roe v. Wade gave individuals the right to make decisions about their reproductive health and the ability to control their economic future. It has given us the ability to plan for our family and our future. ”

But “thanks to Donald Trump and his Supreme Court nominees,” the 2022 Dobbs decision “shattered that pillar,” she said. Romero noted that the former president and current Republican front-runner “bragged on television about how proud he was to fire Mr. Roe.”

“Make no mistake about it, if Donald Trump returns to the White House, he will stop at nothing to pass a national abortion ban,” she said. “And it's not just him. Everyone running in the Republican primary embraces the same anti-women, anti-freedom policies.”

Roe v. Wade survived decades of legal challenges and state-level efforts to restrict abortion rights, but in June 2022, the court decided that the 1992 case known as Planned Parenthood v. Casey The lawsuit was dismissed with the judgment.

In Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Justice Samuel Alito ruled that Roe v. Wade was “grossly wrong from the beginning” and said the abortion issue should be sent back to the states.

Alito was joined by four conservative justices appointed by Trump, including Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

While Chief Justice John Roberts was unable to preside over the court, Mr. Kavanaugh moved to limit the impact of his ruling on a series of other cases based on constitutional privacy rights. But Justice Clarence Thomas said in a concurring opinion that the court should also consider challenges to these cases, and that the issue should include not only the right to contraception, but also the rights to consensual sex and same-sex marriage. He said that.

Within weeks, then-Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich appeared in court seeking to reinstate the near-total ban on abortion first added to Arizona's territorial law in 1864. In December, the Arizona Superior Court heard arguments on whether to enforce the territorial ban or provide abortion services. The Arizona Legislature passed a 15-week ban on the practice.

Over the weekend, hundreds of people marched for abortion rights in Phoenix and hundreds marched against abortion in Washington, D.C., foreshadowing the role abortion may play in the November election. . The race includes major political battles for the White House and Arizona's Senate seat. Multiple seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Meanwhile, state and national Democrats used the anniversary to promote abortion rights, including an amendment to the Arizona Constitution that would establish a “fundamental right to abortion.”

Organizers announced Monday that an effort to add reproductive rights to the state constitution has about 250,000 signatures. This group requires 383,923 signatures, but give voters control, organizers are aiming to collect nearly 600,000. A similar effort was launched after the Supreme Court's decision was leaked in May, but failed to gather the signatures needed to get it on the 2022 ballot in time.

“On this day 51 years ago, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark Roe v. Wade decision protecting Arizonans' right to choose, but today women face an onslaught on their fundamental freedoms. “It's all Donald Trump's fault,” said Yolanda Bejarano, chair of the Arizona Democratic Party. “If President Trump had not taken office, Roe v. Wade would still be in place. And now, with President Trump's pledge to ban abortion nationwide, millions of Arizonans It will take away your freedom.”

“Arizona enshrined the right to abortion in its constitution, sent Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back to the White House, flipped Congress to create a trifecta in favor of Democrats, and supported President Trump’s favorite extreme anti-abortion group. “This is the next abortion battleground,” she said, including vetoing Republican Reps. Lake, Juan Siscomani and David Schweickart. “The stakes could not be higher in November, and Arizonans know their freedom is at stake.”

Romero argued that under President Trump, Republicans will push for a national abortion ban, adding that the Supreme Court “will also go after contraception.”

He added that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris would blunt attempts to pass a nationwide ban, calling it nothing more than a “warped right-wing fantasy” and saying Democrats would “want everyone “She is the only candidate in this race who champions reproductive freedom.”

Stahl-Hamilton said this week that three bills, including a bill to repeal the 1864 Abortion Prohibition Act, a bill to protect contraception, and a bill to limit how states collect and publish data on abortion, were sponsored by Congress. He said that it is scheduled to be submitted. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs said in her State of the State address earlier this month that these “common sense bills” would “expand access to reproductive health care.”

“As I have said before and will continue to say many times, reproductive freedom is not a partisan issue,” Hobbs said. “A woman has the right to the medical care she needs, to have her personal rights protected, and to make the personal decisions she believes are best for herself and her family.”

Romero also criticized U.S. Rep. Juan Siscomani, who is seeking re-election to a second term from the 6th Congressional District, which includes parts of Tucson and parts of Graham and Greenlee counties, stretching into Cochise County. Romero said Cisconi has already voted in favor of legislation restricting abortion rights, leaving voters with a “clear choice” between him and Democratic challenger Engel in the November election. He said there was.

Engel, who lost to Cisco Mani two years ago, said she had fought for the freedom to “make our own health care decisions,” including abortion and health care. She criticized Republicans for using abortion as a “political football.”

“We are here today because we are outraged,” Engel said. “As the mother of her teenage daughter, I am outraged by the fact that she now has fewer rights than I had and fewer rights than her grandmother had 51 years ago.”

She said that since the Supreme Court ruled against Roe v. Wade two years ago, “legislatures and governments across the country have taken steps to restrict access to abortion and deprive women of reproductive health care.” “There have been a series of attacks on state capitols,” he said. There is a movement to criminalize doctors who provide this medical care.

These attacks were “led, encouraged, and celebrated” by Cisco Mani, referring to President Trump's campaign slogan “Make America Great Again,” and she called Cisco Mani an “anti-abortion, MAGA enabler.” “opponent of''.

“We need to elect people to Congress who will protect our freedoms, not destroy them,” she said. “As a woman and the mother of a teenage daughter, this issue is personal to me, and I want to join other reproductive rights advocates in Congress to guarantee access to abortion for all women. We hope.”

“We had the right to vote and we had the right to have an abortion,” Engel said. “We lost the right to abortion, but with our vote we can take this right back.”