As part of our guiding principles, ACESDV supports access to health care and supports reproductive freedom as a fundamental right for all people. ACESDV emphatically supports every person’s right to bodily autonomy, including their right to choose. Since 1980, the Coalition has worked to support survivors of domestic violence, and has supported survivors of sexual violence for the past decade. Ensuring access to reproductive and sexual healthcare for survivors is fundamental to achieving our mission. We oppose any actions that limit a person’s right to access sexual and reproductive healthcare services, including safe abortion care.
Coercive control and reproductive coercion are common tactics in intimate partner violence and are utilized to maintain power by undermining a partners’ economic security, health, safety, and autonomy to make reproductive and sexual health decisions. People who harm use tactics such as contraceptive sabotage, knowingly exposing a sexual partner to an STI, forcing sexual contact, inflicting harm with the intent of causing miscarriage, and forcing a pregnant person to abort a pregnancy or carry it to term. Safe abortion care is necessary to ensure victims are not trapped in violent relationships. This entrapment can lead to heightened abuse during pregnancy or result in the death of the victim.
The ability to make individual decisions about emergency contraception and pregnancy termination after sexual violence is critical to safety and healing after assault. No survivor of rape or incest should have to prove victimization to access essential care. Forcing a victim of rape to bear children conceived during rape or incest removes their right to bodily autonomy, as did the person who harmed them.
Restrictions on abortion will disproportionately affect Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other survivors of color – increasing racial disparities and injustice. Black women and other people of color bear a disproportionate burden of the lack of access to reproductive healthcare options and have been leaders of the movement for decades.
Building on these basic tenants of privacy and personal liberty, we support actions and policies that invest in the health, safety and well-being of all Arizonans.