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Abortion providers and opponents in Arizona react after voters protect abortion rights

JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:

This week, Arizona was one of six states where voters put abortion rights protections into their state constitutions. But some abortion providers there don't think all their hurdles are behind them. Arizona Public Media's Paola Rodriguez reports.

PAOLA RODRIGUEZ, BYLINE: In the more than two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion access in Arizona has been confusing. The state was on the verge of enforcing a mothballed Civil War-era law banning nearly all abortions. But before it could, lawmakers repealed it. That left a different law in effect that banned nearly all abortions after 15 weeks. On Tuesday, though, voters amended Arizona's constitution to protect abortion access until fetal viability, around 24 weeks. That's according to the Associated Press, with most votes counted.

BARBARA ZIPKIN: I think it was upheld because the cultural landscape changed a long time ago, and that people - women especially - really did want and need this.

RODRIGUEZ: That's Phoenix abortion provider Dr. Barbara Zipkin. In the hours after the amendment passed, she found it difficult to feel good.

ZIPKIN: I was somewhat uplifted by Prop. 139 passing, but I am deeply concerned about the way the election is finalizing.

RODRIGUEZ: Zipkin is happy the constitutional amendment passed but thinks it might be superseded by a national abortion ban now that Donald Trump is president-elect.

ZIPKIN: It's been an honor to be able to take care of people over the last bunch of years. And now we have this man who is so unpredictable that not just my future, but my kids' futures, my grandkids' futures, are all up for grabs. I mean, you just don't know what to expect for them.

RODRIGUEZ: Trump has said recently that he won't sign a national abortion ban, but he's made previous statements in favor of a national ban. Other Arizona abortion providers also continue to worry about the future of access. Michelle - a registered nurse who only wants to use her first name because she fears violence some clinics have seen - worries about states beyond Arizona.

MICHELLE: I don't know if I'm thinking about the Arizonans as much as the other people, the other states. Where are they going to go, and how are they going to be taken care of?

RODRIGUEZ: But Zachary Conover, with the Arizona group End Abortion Now, calls the passage of the amendment heartbreaking.

ZACHARY CONOVER: We are, no doubt, in a very dark time. We are and will enter into the bloodiest season as far as Arizona is concerned. And so we have a lot of work in front of us.

RODRIGUEZ: Conover says he frankly doesn't trust that even a conservative presidency will bring the results he wants to see.

CONOVER: I think that we live in a nation where that oath and our word have been devalued, and sometimes we don't really mean what we say, or sometimes we're just inconsistent with how we apply it.

RODRIGUEZ: Conover says Arizona's new constitutional amendment will only galvanize his organization. Michelle, the nurse at a reproductive health clinic here, has concerns beyond access to abortion.

MICHELLE: There's still the threat of being independent and being able to get birth control and get things taken care of so you don't have unplanned pregnancies.

RODRIGUEZ: To take effect, the voter proposition still has to be signed by Arizona's governor. Democrat Katie Hobbs is expected to do so in December. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Paola Rodriguez