The Arizona Legislature has been in session less than a month and already one CAP-supported bill has passed the full Senate and heads to the House for consideration. Senators passed the Save Women’s Sports Act Wednesday on a party line vote, starting this session off strong.
It was one of three successes at the Capitol this week, including a win for life and parental rights.
Fair play
SB 1165 protects girls and women athletes by ensure they only compete against biological females. This commonsense approach to sports was never in question until very recently when the transgender movement demanded the right to displace girls and women. Now, this commonsense legislation passed the Arizona Senate down party lines. Nearly half the senators voted against it, effectively telling female athletes that they should submit to biological males who are bigger, stronger, have a larger lung capacity, and much more testosterone.
Senator Martin Quezada said by passing these protections for girls and women lawmakers were “failing to protect human rights.”
Senator Victoria Steele called it “hurtful” and made false claims that unnecessarily provoke anger. She also claimed there is no such problem to be fixed.
Senators Warren Peterson, Sine Kerr, J.D. Mesnard, and Nancy Barto set the record straight and listed several well-known examples of biological males crushing records and taking women’s place on the winner’s podium. Senator Mesnard corrected the often-repeated claim that the bill bans boys identifying as transgender, “They absolutely should play sports and this bill does not stop that. Anyone who wants to participate can play on the team based on their biological sex. Otherwise, our girls will get hurt and lose opportunities.”
Read our fact sheet on SB 1165 here. Watch the hearing here at 48:20.
Abortion Limitations
A major pro-life law cleared its first hurdle this week. SB 1164 would limit abortions to 15-weeks gestation. If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Mississippi’s 15-week abortion limit, Arizona would have a similar law already in place. The Court is expected to rule on the Mississippi law before the end of June.
Senators in the Judiciary Committee yesterday passed SB 1164 also along party lines (4-3).
Senator Nancy Barto, the bill sponsor, described the humanity of a baby at 15-weeks gestation, “The unborn baby has a nose, lips, eyelids, and feels pain. Major organs have formed, including a heart that beats blood through its tiny body.”
Post abortive women who now work at pregnancy resource centers testified to the physical and emotional pain women suffer after getting an abortion. Lorraine Robbins said they experience “heartbreak, anger, bitterness, depression – including suicidal thoughts, substance abuse, and they struggle to bond with their children.”
A number of senators spoke bluntly about the horrors of abortion, calling it “gruesome and barbaric,” and an “ugly, ugly, ugly business.”
The full Senate will likely vote on the bill by the end of the month. Read our fact sheet on SB 1164 here. Watch the hearing here at 2:00.
Curriculum Transparency
Parents have had it with bureaucrats subverting their authority over their children’s education. Throughout the country parents are demanding their rights, including to know what schools are teaching their children.
SB 1211 clarifies Arizona law acknowledging a parent’s right to direct the education and upbringing of their children by requiring parents have access to instructional material and providing a review process if they are denied that access.
One mother from Rhode Island testified that she had to get a court order to access her children’s curricula after the school stonewalled her. She said, “Parents should not be sued for asking what is in curriculum. This is a bureaucratic problem with a very easy solution: educational transparency.”
The bill passed the Senate Education Committee this week down party lines (5-3). Read our fact sheet on SB 1211 here. Watch the hearing here at 1:58.
So, we end the week with three wins, no losses, and a big week ahead of us. Several CAP-supported bills will be heard in committees next week, including SB 1138, which prohibits puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries for minors.
Follow the bills’ progress on our Bill Tracker.
ICYMI –
- Read here what the Colson Center has to say about Christians acknowledging created reality.
- Read or listen here about the shifting abortion landscape and what it means for the upcoming election.
- Read here about how “redefining ‘parent’ is bad for kids.”
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