Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has signed legislation that requires physicians to inform women that drug-induced abortions can be reversed, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The legislation, Senate Bill 1318, also prohibits women from buying insurance through the federal health exchange that covers abortions, although an exception allows insurance in certain cases, such as rape, incest or when pregnancy puts a woman's life in danger, according to the report.
Gov. Ducey released a statement on his signing of the bill, saying it ensures that taxpayer money is not used to subsidize abortions through Arizona's healthcare exchange. "The American people overwhelmingly oppose taxpayer funding of abortions, and it's no different in Arizona, where we have long-standing policy against subsidizing them with public dollars," he said in the statement. "This legislation provides clarity to state law."
The bill passed in the Arizona Legislature last week, largely along party lines.
As lawmakers debated the legislation, one of the most hotly contested provisions was the requirement that providers tell women that high doses of a hormone can be used to undo the effects of abortion pills, according to a Reuters report. Supporters of the provision said ample evidence exists showing the reversal was possible if acted upon quickly, but they provided no peer-reviewed studies to support their position, according to the report. Critics described the argument as "junk science."
As far as the legislation's other provision, opponents have claimed there was no proof public dollars had been used for abortions and that the measure is an overreach, while supporters of the measure said the ban was necessary because many individuals insured through the federally run exchange set up under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act received government subsidies, according to the report.
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