Vote NO on Prop 139
Psalm 139: 13-17
13 You formed my inmost being;
you knit me in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, because I am wonderfully made;
wonderful are your works!
My very self you know.
15 My bones are not hidden from you,
When I was being made in secret,
fashioned in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw me unformed;
in your book all are written down;
my days were shaped, before one came to be.
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God;
how vast the sum of them!
What Prop 139 Says
A "yes" vote will establish a constitutional right to abortion in Arizona, restricting the State from intervening before fetal viability unless there is a compelling reason.
Fetal viability is determined by a healthcare professional's judgment of the fetus's likelihood of surviving outside the uterus.
The State cannot interfere with a healthcare professional's decision that an abortion is needed to protect the pregnant women's life or health, nor penalize anyone assisting with an abortion.
Why Oppose
Prop 139
"If passed, this initiative threatens to enshrine a constitutional right to virtually unrestricted abortion in Arizona. What makes a constitutional amendment especially grave is that our own Arizona legislators could lose the ability to regulate abortion in any meaningful way, leaving us with the potential for what would likely become nearly unrestricted abortion.
Arizona law currently allows for abortions up until 15 weeks of pregnancy. Proposition 139, however, would go far beyond even this current law.
The proposed amendment, among other things, would likely remove most safeguards for girls and women that are currently in place at abortion clinics, permit a minor to obtain an abortion without parental involvement or permission, and allow for painful late-term abortions of viable pre-born children.
While this ballot measure claims to be moderate in nature, its vague language would make Arizona one of the most extreme states in terms of abortion. We believe that even many of those who support abortion in limited instances would find this proposed constitutional amendment extreme and misleading."
Most Rev. John P. Dolan (Bishop of Phoenix)
Most Rev. Edward J. Weisenburger (Bishop of Tucson)
Most Rev. James S. Wall (Bishop of Gallup)
Most Rev. Eduardo Nevares (Auxiliary Bishop of Phoenix)