‘Women are losing their lives’: The US state where abortion rights could sway the vote

Irma, the receptionist at Acacia Women’s Center in Phoenix, Arizona, is repeating a spiel she gives dozens of times a week to different women before their appointments. 

“We are going to do the procedure so you need to prepare,” she says, “arrive early, wear little to no make-up so that we can check the colour in your face.”

“There are protesters here, but mainly on a Saturday,” she tells the women.

Abortion is no longer simply a personal medical matter. Across this country, reproductive rights is a burning election issue.

Especially in the battleground state of Arizona, where abortion is literally on the ballot.

Signs inside and outside the clinic urge people to “vote yes to prop 139”. It’s a special measure which, if passed, would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

The down-ballot measure was added at the demand of Arizona voters after two years of reproductive rights hanging in the balance.

The overturning of Roe v Wade, which gave women the constitutional right to choose, awoke a dormant law in Arizona from 1864.

The civil war era ruling banned all abortions even in the case of rape or incest. It has since been repealed but the fear over the rowing back of women’s rights remains.

“It’s horrific and women are losing their lives because of these bans,” said Kristin Gambardella, “we need to fight for them.”

Last year, at 17 weeks pregnant, Ms Gambardella, who is from Tucson, Arizona, was told by a doctor her unborn child had foetal abnormalities.

“Our baby, it was guaranteed she would live a short life and it would be full of pain and surgeries,” she said.

Already a mother to a son, born in 2021, this had been a desperately wanted pregnancy, but Ms Gambardella and her husband, Dave, made the heartbreaking decision to get an abortion.

However, the law in Arizona now bans abortion after 15 weeks, even in cases of foetal abnormalities.

The couple drove seven hours across state lines to New Mexico to have the procedure.

“On the last night of my pregnancy, I fell asleep in a strange short-term rental in New Mexico, trying to cherish my last moments with my baby,” she said,

“I should have been with my family, giving our baby girl love and mourning our loss. I was angry with my state but that anger has turned into action.”

Ms Gambardella is determined to tell her story in the hope that people in Arizona will be moved to support abortion access.

She worries that, if elected, Donald Trump would pursue a national abortion ban, although he has insisted that isn’t part of his platform.

“I’m in disbelief that it’s 2024 and this is at stake,” Ms Gambardella said.

“I didn’t have the opportunity to take my own health care in my own state. The idea of being pregnant under a Donald Trump presidency, which is what it would be for me at this stage, is terrifying.”

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The Democratic Party is using abortion rights as a rallying cry.

In a state like Arizona, where polling shows the race for the presidency is on a knife edge, reproductive rights could hold the sway.

I joined Democratic state representative Quanta Crews as she canvassed in a suburb of Phoenix.

The sun was setting on a blisteringly hot day and children were playing in front gardens as she went door to door.

“I’m here to talk to you about abortion access,” she says, “just making sure you know early voting has started”.

Ms Crews is a black woman and a Methodist minister but has been campaigning to protect abortion access.

“When I talk to the voters about the 1864 abortion ban I share with them that in 1864, I would have been considered not a person,” she said.

“That makes it real for them because this is very dangerous. We can’t afford to go back.”