The Quickie: As Arizona Total Ban Repeals Heads to Gov's Desk, Providers Again Ask Court to Act

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: Providers ask AZ Supreme Court to act on total abortion ban, FL abortion ban wreaks havoc, a PP Votes spotlight, and strengthened HIPPA protections.

AS ARIZONA TOTAL BAN REPEAL HEADS TO GOV’S DESK, PROVIDERS AGAIN ASK COURT TO ACT: Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbes is expected to sign a repeal of the state’s Civil War-era total abortion ban today, just one day after the measure passed the state Senate. While Arizonans will still live under a devastating 15-week abortion ban, the repeal is a step forward for abortion access. 

Unfortunately, the total ban could still force providers to pause abortion care this summer. Because the legislature refused to add an emergency clause, the repeal bill cannot take effect until 90 days after the legislature adjourns. While the legislature has a budget deadline of June 30, their session could drag on and even be purposefully drawn out to delay the repeal’s effective date. 

Planned Parenthood Arizona has asked the Arizona Supreme Court to act quickly and issue a stay that would delay the ban’s implementation until after the repeal takes effect. “The Court’s April 9 ruling was both tragic and wrong, but it rested on trying to discern legislative intent,” Angela Florez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said in a statement. “The Legislature has now spoken and clearly does not want the 1864 ban to be enforced. We hope the Court stays true to its word and respects this long-overdue legislative action, by quickly granting our motion to end the uncertainty over the future of abortion in Arizona.”

Read more from NBC News and the Arizona Mirror. 

FLORIDA ABORTION BAN DEVASTATES PATIENTS AND PROVIDERS: As Florida’s six-week abortion ban took effect yesterday, abortion providers spoke out about the devastating effect it will have on their patients. Planned Parenthood of South, East, and North Florida staff physician Dr. Chelsea Daniels told MSNBC’s José Díaz-Balart, “I don’t know where all of these patients are going to go… it makes me extremely worried, and it absolutely just devastates me.” 

84,000 patients accessed abortion care in Florida in 2023, with more than 9,000 of those patients coming from out of state. “It just goes to show how normal abortion is, and why it should be treated just as any other normal medical procedure is,” said Dr. Daniels

Asked about what she and her other physicians were feeling in this moment, Dr. Daniels was candid: “We are all terrified about what this means for the patient-doctor relationship. We’re terrified for what this means for a patient’s ability to make their own deeply personal medical decisions. And we know that bans on abortion don’t stop at abortion. We have seen the way that this creates a domino effect on patients’ ability to make other reproductive-related decisions, and it is a slippery slope. Patients deserve to have the ability to have these conversations with their doctor without government interference.”

Watch the full segment here.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD VOTES MARKS TWO YEARS SINCE THE LEAKED DOBBS OPINION: Two years ago today, the majority Supreme Court opinion was leaked in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, confirming the court’s plan to overturn Roe v. Wade and take away the constitutional right to abortion. In a statement, Planned Parenthood Votes Executive Director, Jenny Lawson called out Trump for plunging us into an abortion access crisis, and reminded voters that he and his anti-abortion allies running for U.S. Senate are a threat to our health and safety.

“We don’t agree with Donald Trump often, but we certainly agree with him on this: Donald Trump is responsible for overturning Roe and for every abortion ban that has been enacted since. We've seen him brag about his role in stripping people of essential health care, but let's be clear, Trump and his anti-abortion allies like GOP Senate candidates Kari Lake and David McCormick never planned to stop at ending Roe. Abortion opponents' goal is to ban abortion access nationwide and take away IVF and birth control, using every lever they can — even without Congress. If elected, Donald Trump will attack reproductive health care on day one, just like he did in his last administration. He paved the way for the current abortion access crisis and it will only get worse if he’s re-elected. From Trump, all the way down the ballot, so much is on the line this election cycle. We can’t afford to let Trump, or any other candidate who is hostile to our rights, win in November — our freedom depends on it.”   

More here. 

NEW OP-ED: REPRO RIGHTS ARE UNDER ATTACK. WE MUST PROTECT PATIENT PRIVACY AT ALL COSTS: Last week, the U.S. Department of Health (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR)  finalized a rule to strengthen protections under HIPAA to protect reproductive health data and patient privacy. These protections come at an important moment as state attacks on abortion access continue across the country. 

OCR Director Melanie Fontes Rainer details her own pregnancy story which ended in miscarriage in a new op-ed published in The Hill. She was pregnant with twins last year but unfortunately at a regular ultrasound, only one of the embryos had a heartbeat. After further testing, neither embryo did, and her doctor recommended a D and C, a common procedure better known as an abortion, to treat her miscarriage. 

Rainer writes, “Whether you are like me and experienced a miscarriage or must travel for lawful reproductive health care, the last thing you should have to worry about is your privacy. You should feel secure in the knowledge that your health information is protected and be able to trust the conversations you have with your medical provider.”

She is 1000% right. 

Read her full op-ed in The Hill.