Supporting Life at the State Capitol

Next Wednesday, February 7, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee will hear SB 1394, a bill introduced by committee chair Sen. Nancy Barto and supported by Center for Arizona Policy. Arizona’s abortion reporting statutes provide critical information for policymakers as they seek to improve women’s health and well-being in our state. Good policy requires good data. SB 1394 enhances current abortion reporting requirements.

In 2010, the enactment of SB 1304 created a statutory requirement for hospitals and abortion clinics to report abortions and complications related to abortions. Since that time, many states have passed their own abortion reporting statutes, many of which bring to light valuable information that currently is not available under Arizona law. SB 1394 seeks to enhance Arizona’s abortion reporting laws by adopting provisions from other states, most notably Minnesota and Oklahoma.

First, under current law, a hospital or facility must submit a report each month to the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) for each abortion performed. The report must include specific information as required by the statute. This bill increases the type and specificity of the information the report must contain.

Second, this bill also establishes an improved informed consent report. This report will provide data as to the number of women that receive informed consent information before having an abortion and the number of women that ultimately have the abortion.

Enhancing Arizona’s abortion reporting laws will provide valuable information for state policymakers and ADHS as they seek to promote and improve the health of individuals in Arizona.

Access CAP’s Fact Sheet on SB 1394 at our bill tracker. Follow us live next Wednesday on our Facebook page.

Bad Bill of the week banner

Several members of the legislature have introduced “bad bills” that undermine religious freedom. These two bills are of note:

Senator Bowie introduced SB 1160, which makes it an act of unprofessional conduct for mental health professionals and counselors licensed by the state to help minors with unwanted same-sex attraction or gender dysphoria.

Representative Andrade introduced HB 2437, which adds sexual orientation and gender identity as protected classes under Arizona’s employment nondiscrimination laws, thereby threatening the religious freedom of faith-based institutions.

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