Will abortion access rights affect Navajo voters in Arizona?

The ballot initiative this November, Proposition 139will allow abortions while maintaining the viability of the fetus, usually at about 24 weeks of pregnancy. Janie Parrish, director of Arizona Native Vote, a Native voter outreach organization that supports Proposition 139, said community matriarchs have expressed support for abortion access in small group meetings. These conclaves include respected elders from the Navajo, Hopi and White Mountain Apache tribes.

“Maybe they’ll look around, but they’ll say, ‘Of course, it’s our decision.’ It’s not someone else’s. … And then we start having deeper conversations about shame and judgment,” said Parrish, who is Navajo. “It’s been taboo for so long the way it’s been worded, and it’s going to take some people a while to get over it.”

Access to abortion could be a critical issue for Navajo voters in Arizona as they consider their options at the state and federal level this November. Democrats say abortion is also on the ballots of their candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris, the party’s nominee for president; Representative Ruben Gallego, who is seeking to become Arizona’s next senator; and Jonathan Nez, a former Navajo Nation president who is running for a congressional seat covering much of the tribe’s territory.