The Arizona Legislature’s Request to Speak (RTS) system should be on high alert for the House Health and Human Services Committee meeting on Thursday, Feb. 6.
We will be hearing Cathi Herrod’s funding bill for the fake pregnancy hotline bill (HB2388). This bill gives $1.5 million a year to the 211 information and referral line, but it has strings attached. The information provided will be tailored by the provider’s religious beliefs.
If this bill or the mirror bill (SB1328) passes, the free public 211 referral line would not be allowed to refer to anyone to any organization or clinic that provides abortions or to any provider that would offer other much-needed public health services like pap smears, pregnancy tests, birth control, HIV tests, and basic public health services… in addition to abortion.
These two bills are bad public health policy that force young women and their children into lives of poverty because of an unplanned pregnancy. They cost the state money because 52% of the lives births in Arizona are funded by AHCCCS, the state’s Medical program.
These two bills restrict your access to care based upon someone else’s deeply held religious beliefs. The government should not fund this.
Patients need choice in the state of Arizona. The Republican leadership in the Legislature and special interest groups should not be dictating your healthcare and deciding what public health information you receive.
Patients should be informed of and offered all legal drugs and services that would help their medical condition whatever it is, including pregnancy.
I believe in patient choice from reproductive choice; to choosing a doctor who will treat you with dignity regardless of who you are or the services you choose; to being able to choose the drugs that you want including going beyond step therapy (also on HHS agenda for tomorrow) or choosing medical marijuana; and to choosing death with dignity if you are terminally ill. It’s time for freedom of choice.
My bill HB2068 would require all healthcare providers and institutions to say upfront what legal drugs and services they do not provide due to their deeply held religious beliefs.
Government and religion should not dictate our choices of legal drugs and healthcare services. if something is effective for a medical condition that we have, we have the right to at least be told about it.
Attention RTS folks…
If your believe in reproductive choice, vote No on HB2388 and SB1328 on RTS. Funding for the fake pregnancy hotline was killed in 2019. Let’s kill these bad bills again and restore legitimate state funding to the 211 line so they can provide fact-based information, free of religious bias.
If you think someone else’s religion should not dictate your access to healthcare, please vote Yes for my bill HB2068 on RTS.
The committee meeting is Feb. 6 at 9 a.m. There is a lot on the agenda. You can watch live or archived video on the Azleg.gov website, on the Capitol TV tab. Full text of these bills is also available on Azleg.gov by entering the bill number into the search box on the home page. One thing that I will say about the Arizona legislature is that it has a very well functioning, easy to navigate website. Everything we do is on video.
Stay vigilant. If you have opinions on any bills, please comment on RTS and contact your Legislators.