Last January, Arizona pro-choice groups celebrated the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which legalized abortion.

Next January they might be at the Legislature trying to repeal a nearly 30-year-old state law that prohibits abortions at University Medical Center in Tucson, the teaching hospital for the University of Arizona College of Medicine.

The law (ARS 15-1630), passed by the Legislature in 1974, prohibits abortions at any facility under the jurisdiction of the Arizona Board of Regents except to save the life of the woman. It withstood a constitutional challenge in the state Supreme Court in 1976, and there has been no attempt to repeal it since.

“Because, knowing our legislators, it would be hopeless,” said Dr. Eva Shapiro, a Tucson pediatrician and healthcare activist. “It would be a losing battle.”

A Yuma pediatrician, Sen. Robert Cannell, D-Dist. 24, agrees with Ms. Shapiro, but said he might be willing to introduce a bill to repeal the anti-abortion law.

“I don’t know if it would even get a hearing [but] I don’t see how you can morally say that you can’t teach a certain part of medicine when it’s a legal thing to do,” he said.

Pro-choice groups at the U of A, including Medical Students for Choice and Students for Choice, say the law has resulted in a “gag order” on reproductive education.

A graduating physician at the U of A receives one hour of education in abortion and emergency contraception, according to the NARAL-ProChoice America lobby (formerly the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League). The medical school, however, did reinstate a two-hour class discussion about abortion counseling in 2000.

Ms. Shapiro said, “The Legislature should not be deciding on medical school curriculum.”

Students May Volunteer With Planned Parenthood

Medical students who wish to be educated on abortions “get around the law” through a program called Medical Students at Planned Parenthood of Southern Arizona. Ten to 15 students a year do volunteer work at the organization’s family planning facilities, as well as observe medical and surgical abortions, said Patti Caldwell, Planned Parenthood CEO.

Jamie Michaelson, a second-year medical student and chapter leader for Medical Student for Choice, said, “That’s how we learn, by shadowing. We get around the law by extra-curricular programs with Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers.”

The College of Medicine’s OB/GYN program has an “opt out” program that rotates four resident physicians each year through training at Planned Parenthood and with a private physician. There they learn and perform abortion procedures, Ms. Caldwell said.

OB/GYN residents may choose not to participate in the abortion curriculum.

“Planned Parenthood is the biggest baby killer in Arizona,” said former state Rep. Jim Skelly of Scottsdale, a pro-life activist. He is the original author of the UMC abortion ban, which he offered as an amendment to a $5.5 million appropriations bill to expand the U of A football stadium.

The amendment caused a stir at the university and “created quite a fight” at the Legislature, Mr. Skelly said, but university officials gave up. “They saw the bill wouldn’t go out without the amendment,” he said. “Those phonies down there were more interested in the stadium.”

Students For Choice Plan Ad Campaign

Students for Choice at the university was planning to run an ad favoring the repeal in the student newspaper, the Arizona Daily Wildcat, and hand it out to those attending the university’s homecoming football game Nov. 8. They previously ran ads that featured a list of state legislators and urged readers to contact them to protest the law.

“Our activities to repeal the abortion law have been limited to the ad, since our goal is to initially educate the public about this archaic mandate and publicize the connection between the stadium funding…and a woman’s right to basic healthcare services,” said Amy Shlossman of Students for Choice.

“No one in my classes even heard of the law,” said third-year medical student Kate Bermingham, a regional coordinator with Medical Students for Choice. “It gets little play on campus.”

A Tucson state senator said he would not vote to repeal of the law, but questioned whether it really does prevent classroom instruction on abortion procedures.

“I probably would not support repealing that because of my pro-life stand,” said Sen. Tim Bee, R-Dist. 30. [But] “They probably should get an opinion from the Attorney General’s Office as to whether they can give instruction.”

Sen. Thayer Verschoor, R-Dist. 22, said he also would not vote to repeal the law.

“I support the policy as it is,” he said. “I don’t think the state should pay for learning that specific procedure. I don’t support abortion.”

Mr. Cannell said, “I can’t say I’m in favor of abortion, but you want qualified doctors to do it. If someone approached me, I’d run a bill.”

College of Medicine officials did not return calls requesting interviews about the law. Former state representative and current member of the board of Regents Jack Jewett declined to comment on the issue.

Arizona Supreme Court in 1976: Law Is Constitutional

The state Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that prohibiting non-therapeutic abortions at University Medical Center at the University of Arizona was constitutional in view of the hospital’s status as a teaching hospital and the availability of other public facilities for abortions. The challenge was brought by a 19-year-old unmarried Tucson woman who sought to have an abortion at UMC, but was denied. The Supreme Court decision reversed a lower court ruling.

Cheryl Kleiman of Students for Choice told the Arizona Daily Wildcat that one abortion to save the mother’s life has been performed at UMC since the ban went into effect.

Only California and New York City have enacted laws requiring that medical schools provide abortion education and training.

The Department of Health Services reported that more than 8,300 abortions were performed in Arizona in 2001, more than 7,000 of them in Maricopa and Pima counties. —