As the anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade approaches, local activists reflect on the landscape of abortion access in Arizona. Kelly Copeland is a local anti-abortion rights activist who said in the last year, abortion access in Arizona is the same as it always was.
“The idea of roe v wade was to bring it back to the states, so that’s where we are at,” he said. “Arizona seems to be status quo, I haven’t found anyone who isn’t delivering those services.”
Copeland has worked in the field of anti-abortion rights for over 40 years. And throughout his work, there hasn’t been a drastic change, except in the tension around the issue of abortion access.
“So in the trenches, women are still faced with really difficult decisions,” he said. “We have to be a more loving society and what I’ve seen in the last 40 years is that we’re not. It’s become more divisive.”
He said the change that needs to happen is in people’s hearts.
“We’re not going to move this with a law,” Copeland said. “You’re not going to legislate morality. It’s never worked.”
One of the goals is to find common ground on the issue in order to help those who need it.
“We have to stop looking at each other as enemies,” he said.
So Copeland said they’re continuing to pray and offering help to women.
“We have to make a more welcoming society so that abortion becomes unthinkable,” Copeland said. “That’s what we have to do.”