A prominent abortion rights group has backed Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) in Arizona’s 2024 Senate race and revoked its support for Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ).
Reproductive Freedom for All, formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America, endorsed Gallego on Wednesday, saying that his vote in the near-evenly divided Senate could mean the difference when weighing issues connected to federal abortion rights.
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Proud to endorse @RubenGallego for the U.S. Senate, marking our 1st endorsement as Reproductive Freedom for All!
Electing him could mean the difference between protecting abortion & voting rights or allowing extremist Republicans to continue to attack our rights. Let’s go, AZ!✨ pic.twitter.com/ra6zBowVeo
— Reproductive Freedom for All (@reproforall) October 4, 2023
Gallego announced his candidacy in January after Sinema left the Democratic Party and became an independent late last year.
In Sinema’s 2018 Senate run, the Reproductive Freedom for All super PAC, Women’s Choice, spent over $1.3 million on her campaign. Sinema has voted in favor of abortion rights, even after leaving the Democrats.
Various abortion rights groups grew frustrated with Sinema, however, after she voted with Republicans against changing Senate rules that would have allowed Democrats to pass voting rights legislation with a simple majority. The then-NARAL even changed its endorsement criteria to only support candidates who supported the simple majority vote change, making Sinema ineligible for funding.
A spokesperson for Sinema told the Washington Examiner that the Arizona independent’s stance on abortion has not wavered.
“Kyrsten is proud to have a consistent and clear record of always fighting for women’s rights to make their own healthcare decisions,” the spokesperson said. “She’ll continue working with anyone to ensure Arizona women have access to healthcare services, including by protecting the ability for senators to stop damaging laws from passing that would harm women’s access to care.”
When asked by NBC about the decision to back Gallego over Sinema, Reproductive Freedom for All’s vice president of political and government relations, Ryan Stilzen, said that Sinema has not publicly announced her intentions to run in 2024.
“[F]rom our minds right now, the only candidate in this race and the only candidate that’s been talked about in this race that we can trust and we know will support working to get the legal right to abortion codified in this country is Gallego,” Stilzen said.
The Washington Examiner contacted Reproductive Freedom for All with a request for comment.
Gallego wrote on X, formerly Twitter, before the announcement of the endorsement that he would “fight like hell” against abortion bans as a senator.
Arizona, here’s my promise to you: As your Senator, I’ll fight like hell to block any abortion ban that comes our way.
— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) October 2, 2023
“At a time when GOP extremists are pushing abortion bans every chance they get, I promise to be an unwavering defender of reproductive rights in the U.S. Senate,” Gallego said in a statement. “Your private health care decisions are yours and yours alone — and I’ll never back down from the politicians who try to take that right away.”
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Arizona is currently a swing state in the abortion debate, with a 15-week ban on the controversial procedure currently in place.
Republican candidate for Senate and failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake supports a ban on abortions after six weeks gestation, when fetal cardiac activity can be detected on ultrasound.
