ACC Bishops Visit the Capitol

ARIZONA CATHOLIC CONFERENCE

Legislative Update (02/04/22)

ACC Bishops Visit the Capitol

This was an extremely busy week as the Bishops of the Arizona Catholic Conference (ACC) made their annual visit to the Capitol on Tuesday.  Fortunately, they were able to meet and discuss important issues with legislative leadership in both the House and Senate, as well as with Governor Doug Ducey.

The legislative session has just begun, but it is expected to be a lengthy one.  There have been a large number of bills already introduced on important issues including the protection of innocent human life from abortion, religious liberty, school choice, immigration, and usury laws, amongst many others.

With regard to legislation this week, the biggest highlight was the passage of a 15-week ban on abortion (SB 1164) by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.  The ACC was proud to testify on this important bill which will hopefully reach the Senate floor very soon.

As a reminder, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion in the Dobbs case sometime before summer.  There are several different scenarios that could happen depending on how the case is decided. 

If Roe v. Wade is overturned, we look forward to Arizona’s pre-Roe statute that essentially prohibits abortion at any stage coming back into effect. If, however, Roe is not overturned but a 15-week ban is upheld, SB 1164 will become very important in dramatically improving Arizona’s current abortion laws and saving lives.

The rest of the session looks like it will be long and contentious on many fronts. If you have not done so already, please make sure that you are up to date on important issues facing the Catholic Church in Arizona by signing up to receive these regular updates at www.azcatholicconference.org