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Last November, Arizona voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 139, the Arizona Abortion Access Act, to enshrine the fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution. Soon after the amendment passed, Arizona health care providers swiftly and successfully blocked the state’s 15-week abortion ban. Now, they are challenging some of the state’s most burdensome restrictions that remain on the books to make sure patients can get the constitutionally protected care they need. The restrictions challenged include:

• Laws forcing providers to relay, and patients to receive, biased and inaccurate information about abortion in person, and then wait at least 24 hours before being able to obtain care — requiring two separate trips to a provider. Patients are often unable to get time-sensitive care for days, if not weeks, because of these restrictions.
• Laws banning abortion as an option for patients with fetal diagnoses, forcing doctors to turn their patients away if they even suspect someone’s reason for seeking care is due to a fetal condition.
• A prohibition on the use of telemedicine for medication abortion, including a ban on the mailing of abortion pills, despite ample that this is a safe and effective form of care.

These restrictions make it harder, if not impossible, for Arizonans to get abortion care in the state. These barriers disproportionately impact low-income communities, communities of color, and those living in rural areas who already have limited access to health care. Access to medication abortion via telemedicine and mail, for example, has been essential for many who don’t have the resources to make multiple trips or travel long distances for care. Arizona is one of just that ban the mailing of abortion pills. These restrictions are designed to make abortion care more difficult, time-consuming, expensive, and distressing to access.