Arizona gov signs laws restricting abortion and transgender rights

PHOENIX — Gov. Doug Ducey signed separate laws Wednesday to outlaw virtually all abortions after 15 weeks; to preclude transgender girls from participating in women’s sports; and to make it illegal for doctors to perform “irreversible gender reassignment surgery’’ on minors.

“In Arizona, we know there is immeasurable value in every life, including preborn life,’’ the Republican governor said in a letter explaining his decision to sign the measure curbing the right of women to terminate a pregnancy. “I believe it is each state’s responsibility to protect them.’’

There are no exceptions in the measure, Senate Bill 1164, for cases of rape or incest.

At a news conference, however, Ducey rejected questions of whether he is forcing women who have been raped or are the victims of incest to carry a baby to term and give birth. He said any prior statements he has made about exceptions in those cases apply only if abortions are totally outlawed.

“This law has availability,’’ because it keeps the procedure legal through the 15th week of pregnancy, he said.

In 2020, the most recent year for which figures are available, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported there were 13,186 abortions performed on state residents. Of that total, just 636 were beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in a prepared statement that the “longstanding racist policies in the state and in our nation’’ mean SB 1164 will have a greater impact on minority communities as well as those with low incomes and rural residents.

“They are more likely to struggle to secure the funds, find child care, and take time off to work to travel out of state if they need to seek care after 15 weeks,’’ the statement reads.

The new law makes it a Class 6 felony, punishable by up to a year in state prison, for doctors to perform abortions after 15 weeks. The only exception is in cases where there is risk of the death or serious bodily injury to the woman.

Nothing in the measure, however, imposes any criminal penalties on a woman who gets the abortion.

SB 1164 is, for the moment, legally unenforceable as it runs afoul of longstanding U.S. Supreme Court precedents dating to 1973 that say a state cannot interfere with a woman’s choice before the point when a fetus becomes viable, generally somewhere around 22 to 24 weeks.

But the Arizona legislation is built on the premise that later this year the high court will uphold a virtually identical Mississippi law.

Ducey said the ban at 15 weeks “brings us much more in line with the rest of the industrialized and civilized world.’’

He also signed his approval to Senate Bill 1165, which requires public schools and any private schools that compete against them to designate their interscholastic or intramural sports strictly as male, female or coed. It specifically says teams designed for women or girls “may not be open to students of the male sex.’’

“It’s about fairness, pure and simple,’’ Ducey said. “And it’s also about protecting girls sports and protecting female sports.’’

He said it won’t deny any opportunity to transgender girls, saying they remain free to compete on coed teams.

“It’s a way where all can participate,’’ Ducey said. “But those that are in competitive environments can have a level playing field.’’

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The move comes despite the fact that the Arizona Interscholastic Association, which governs high school sports, already has protocols to handle requests by transgender athletes to participate in sports on a case-by-case basis. Factors include a student’s “gender story,’’ including the age at which they became aware of the “incongruence’’ between the sex assigned at birth and gender identity, and whether the student is undergoing gender transition.

Dr. Kristina Wilson, who serves on the AIA’s medical advisory board, testified that out of 170,000 high school athletes, there have been just 16 requests by transgender individuals to compete.

The governor, however, lashed out at the organization for allowing any transgender youths to participate.

“It’s a shame that the AIA and the NCAA won’t speak out on these,’’ he said. “So we did in Arizona.’’

Ducey also brushed aside the fact that the governors of Indiana and Utah, both Republicans, vetoed similar legislation in their states.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, in his veto message, said there were so few cases of transgender athletes that these decisions should be left to the organization that governs interscholastic athletics in his state. Cox, whose veto was later overridden, also cited figures that 86% of transgender youths have considered suicide, with 56% actually making an attempt.

Asked about that, Ducey said there is “great concern for and great empathy for those situations.’’ But that didn’t change his mind.

“I think Arizona has handled this in the most responsible way possible to keep a level playing field out there for young female athletes and to address the other issues,’’ Ducey said. “And I think Arizona has handled this in the most responsible way possible.’’

In also signing Senate Bill 1138 on gender reassignment procedures, Ducey pointed out that the measure does not prohibit doctors from providing puberty-blocking hormones or any other hormone therapy to minors. What is does preclude is any surgical procedures until the person turns 18.

“SB 1138 delays any irreversible gender reassignment surgery until the age of 18,’’ he said. “The reason is simple and common sense. This is a decision that will dramatically affect the rest of an individual’s life, including the ability of that individual to become a biological parent later in life.’’

He said there’s nothing wrong with providing different standards between what adults can do with their bodies versus what can happen with children, even in cases where the parents agree.

“Throughout law, children are protected from making irreversible decisions, including buying certain products or participating in activities that can have lifelong health implications,’’ Ducey said. “These decisions should be made when an individual reaches adulthood.”

The governor also said many doctors who perform these procedures have concluded it is not “within the standards of care’’ to do so on children.

That signature already is drawing threats of litigation from the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

“This is a harmful law that wrongly allows the government to dictate medical care for transgender youth in Arizona,’’ said Asaf Orr, senior attorney for NCLR.

“Parents want what’s best for their children,’’ Orr said. “They don’t need the state of Arizona seeking to take over their parental role.’’

But Emilie Kao, senior vice president for Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian public interest law firm that has previously defended some Arizona statutes, said the bill protects the ability of children “to have a natural childhood, free from the pressure to undergo surgical procedures that leave them permanently sterile and physically marred for life.’’