Arizona House Republicans passed a bill that would extend child support payments to the date of a confirmed pregnancy, which opponents argue is an attempt to establish a fetal personhood provision. 

During February, which is Black History Month, it is a good time to look upon the triumphs and tragedies in African American history. Movies like Harriet tell of heroes of the Underground Railroad and the struggle against slavery. It is good to honor those stories. There is, however, one tragedy of the African American community that is often overlooked: the tragedy of legalized abortion.

My sister and I went on an Amtrak vacation in July to attend a conference and visit friends and family in the Midwest. On her last leg home, my sister was on a local metro when a pregnant woman threw herself in front of the train and committed suicide. We don’t know if the lack of abortion or health care or services drove her to it. But expect to see more.

Arizona is at the center of the abortion debate as the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether to consider a challenge to a 2012 law that strikes at the heart of the 40-year-old landmark case, Roe v. Wade.

Arizona is one of 13 states to turn “hostile” toward abortion rights during the last decade, according to a report Thursday from a national reproductive health organization. The Guttmacher Institute said Arizona and 12 other states enacted tougher abortion restrictions since 2000, doubling to 26 the number of states it deems “hostile.”

Unable to shepherd an abortion bill out of a House committee, pro-life advocates are resorting to a common legislative maneuver to revive the proposal.

The pro-life community suffered a setback Wednesday as proposals that would add a host of requirements before an abortion could be performed failed to get committee approval.

A bill to ban most abortions after 20 weeks and another that would define human life as beginning at conception stalled in the Republican-led Legislature.

Steve Montenegro's assertion that Arizona needed to outlaw abortions performed to prevent the births of female and minority babies earned House passage, and now HB2443 goes to the Senate. But his success came on the basis of spotty evidence.