Irma, a receptionist at the Acacia Women's Center in Phoenix, Arizona, repeats a spiel she gives dozens of times a week to various women before their meetings.
“We will be performing a procedure, so you need to be prepared,” she says, “come early and wear little to no makeup so we can check your face color.”
“They protest here, but mainly on Saturdays,” he tells the women.
Abortion is no longer just a personal medical matter. Across the country, reproductive rights are a hot-button electoral issue.
Especially in the battleground state of Arizona, where abortion is literally an election issue.
Signs inside and outside the clinic encourage people to “vote in support of 139.” This is a special measure that, if passed, would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution.
The down-ballot solution was added at the request of Arizona voters after two years in which reproductive rights hung in the balance.
Overthrow Roe v. Wadethat gave women the constitutional right to choose, awakened a dormant 1864 law in Arizona.
The Civil War-era ruling prohibited all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. It has since been repealed, but concerns about violations of women's rights remain unchanged.
“It's terrifying, women are losing their lives because of these bans,” said Kristin Gambardella. “We have to fight for them.”
Last year, while she was 17 weeks pregnant, a doctor told Ms. Gambardella of Tucson, Arizona, that her unborn child had fetal abnormalities.
“Our baby was guaranteed to have a short life, full of pain and surgery,” she said.
She was already the mother of a son born in 2021. It was a much-wanted pregnancy, but Mrs. Gambardella and her husband Dave made the painful decision to have an abortion.
Kristin Gambardella and her husband Dave
However, Arizona law currently prohibits abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, even in the case of fetal abnormalities.
The couple drove seven hours across state lines to New Mexico for the procedure.
“On the last night of my pregnancy, I fell asleep in a strange short-term rental in New Mexico, trying to celebrate my last moments with my baby,” she said:
“I should be with my family, showing love to our daughter and mourning our loss. I was angry at my condition, but that anger turned into action.”
Ms. Gambardella is determined to tell her story in hopes that Arizonans will push her to support abortion access.
He worries that if elected, Donald Trump he would support a nationwide ban on abortion, although he insisted that it was not on his agenda.
“I can't believe it's 2024 and that this is at risk,” Gambardella said.
“I didn't have the option to get my own health care in my own state. The idea of getting pregnant during Donald Trump's presidency, which it would be for me at this stage, is terrifying.”
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Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (right) during a June visit to Arizona. Photo: Reuters
The Democratic Party uses abortion rights as a rallying cry.
In a state like Arizona, where polls show the presidential race is close to the brink, reproductive rights may still prevail.
I joined Democratic state representative Quanta Crews as she canvassed in suburban Phoenix.
The sun was setting on a hot day and the children were playing in the front gardens as she went door to door.
“I'm here to talk to you about abortion access,” he says, “just making sure you know that early voting has started.”
Ms. Crews is a black woman and a Methodist minister, but she campaigns to protect access to abortion.
“When I talk to voters about the 1864 abortion ban, I tell them that in 1864 I would not have been considered a person,” she said.
“It makes it real for them because it is very dangerous. We can't afford to go back.”
