AZ Court Thwarts Will of Taxpayers to Expand Whole-Woman Care

Washington, D.C. – Today U.S. District Judge Neil Wake  overturned Arizona’s Whole Woman’s Health Funding Priority Act (HB 2800), which prioritizes taxpayer funding away from abortion providers and toward entities that provide comprehensive whole-woman care.  Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) President Marjorie Dannenfelser offered the following comment:

“Judge Wake’s ruling thwarts the will of Arizona taxpayers to stop funding big abortion businesses such as Planned Parenthood.  As a result, funds will be reduced for agencies that provide whole women’s health care. According to Planned Parenthood’s own annual report, its government subsidies have reached an all-time high, even as the number of cancer screenings and other prevention and contraceptive services they offer has dropped dramatically. Planned Parenthood’s growing abortion toll, meanwhile, is evidence of their continued failure to show true concern for vulnerable women and girls.

“The overturned law would simply prioritize taxpayer funding for health care entities that provide comprehensive, whole-woman care.  Arizona women seeking family planning should be able to access this service at clinics that can meet other health needs for them and their families. The SBA List will not rest until the freedom of states to put whole women’s health first is once again recognized and protected.”

Governor Jan Brewer signed HB 2800 into law last May and Planned Parenthood immediately filed suit. In October, the Obama Department of Justice filed a brief in the case, at which point Judge Wake issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law.  Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom, which co-authored the legislation with the SBA List, have helped state Solicitor General David Cole defend the law to date. The state is expected to appeal today’s ruling. 

Last year the SBA List joined the Center for Arizona Policy, Arizona Right to Life, and other local groups to host “Women Speak Out: Defund Planned Parenthood” grassroots rallies in front of local Planned Parenthood abortion clinics to draw attention to the organization’s abortion-centered business and calling for the passage of HB 2800. Chuck Donovan, President of the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the education and research arm of the SBA List, also testified before the Arizona House Health Committee in favor of the bill in coordination with the Center for Arizona Policy.

The Susan B. Anthony List, and its affiliated Political Action Committees, the SBA List Candidate Fund and Women Speak Out PAC, are dedicated to pursuing policies and electing candidates who will reduce and ultimately end abortion. To that end, the SBA List emphasizes the education, promotion, mobilization, and election of pro-life women.  The SBA List is a network of more than 365,000 pro-life Americans nationwide.