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Christian anti-abortion activists in Arizona criticized the leading pro-life establishment campaign against a ballot measure seeking to enshrine abortion into the state constitution, warning that their morally ambiguous messaging on the measure would result in an electoral loss.
The ballot measure, known as Proposition 139, would create a “fundamental right to abortion” in the Arizona state constitution and virtually eliminate the ability of the state to interfere “before and after fetal viability.” It Goes Too Far, a coalition of pro-life leaders and entities in Arizona, has based their campaign on potential harms to women rather than the evil of murdering preborn babies.
Red State Reform, a conservative Christian grassroots organization based in Arizona, shared a picture of a sign from It Goes Too Far exhorting voters to “protect women’s health” by opposing Proposition 139. Red State Reform noted that abortion is not “primarily about the woman when an innocent human being is about to be murdered” and that such messaging “misses the mark.”
Another graphic made by It Goes Too Far said that Proposition 139 would “legalize post viability abortion even without a medical necessity,” after which Red State Reform observed that there is no “medical necessity” to murder “a baby in the womb who could otherwise be delivered.” Red State Reform noted that a similar graphic said opposing Proposition 139 would maintain “the requirement that a qualified doctor provide abortions,” which the organization contended was “like saying that we should license hit men and make sure that only they are allowed to murder.”
Red State Reform said in comments to The Sentinel that their campaign against Proposition 139 centers on supplying resources to churches, educating them about the amendment, and providing them with practical steps to oppose the ballot measure. Volunteers are meanwhile knocking on doors, posting billboards and yard signs, and distributing flyers across the state.
Zachary Conover, the communications director for Christian anti-abortion ministry End Abortion Now, which is based in Arizona, also criticized the messaging from It Goes Too Far, predicting that the anti-abortion side would lose without moral clarity. “We must learn from failed campaigns in other states,” he said. “Make this about the women instead of the babies, and our state will be bathed in innocent blood.”
Several other states have indeed witnessed losses on abortion-related ballot measures in recent years as leading pro-life organizations centered their appeals to voters on the harms rendered to women rather than the atrocity of murdering preborn children in the womb.
Multiple states are facing similar ballot initiatives this year to enshrine abortion into their constitutions. Missouri voters will consider whether to codify a “right to reproductive freedom,” while Florida voters will decide whether to codify that “no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health.”
