Why It Matters
Arizona’s 2026 gubernatorial race has become a referendum on abortion access and healthcare coverage. Republican Andy Biggs, the GOP nominee facing incumbent Democrat Katie Hobbs in November, backed federal bills to restrict abortion nationwide while in Congress and supported state-level abortion limitations as a legislator — positions that conflict with voter approval of a 2024 ballot measure protecting abortion rights until fetal viability.
What Happened
Medical professionals in Arizona launched a public opposition campaign against Biggs’s record on healthcare and reproductive policy. The Committee to Protect Health Care held an online news conference featuring local physicians, including a Chandler obstetrician and a Tucson pediatrician with decades of practice experience in the state.
Biggs co-sponsored federal legislation four times to ban abortion nationwide, most recently in 2025. As a state lawmaker, he supported Arizona laws restricting abortion access. In his congressional voting record, Biggs backed “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” a tax and spending package that included substantial cuts to the Medicaid program.
Governor Katie Hobbs, running for re-election, has taken the opposite stance. She vetoed anti-abortion proposals passed by the Republican-controlled legislature during her first term and issued an executive order preventing county prosecutors from pursuing charges against abortion patients or doctors.
Dr. Danielle Allen-Herried, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Chandler, cited a patient who faced a difficult pregnancy decision after receiving a fetal anencephaly diagnosis — a condition incompatible with life after birth. “Arizona deserves a governor who believes that healthcare should be more accessible, more affordable and guided by medical evidence, not by political ideology,” Allen-Herried said.
Dr. Eve Shapiro, a pediatrician in Tucson who has worked with Arizona families for more than four decades, emphasized the connection between health insurance coverage and early disease detection. “Health insurance means cancer is caught earlier, diabetes is managed before complications develop,” Shapiro said.
By the Numbers
23 to 24 weeks of gestation — the fetal viability threshold that Proposition 139 (2024) uses to guarantee abortion access in Arizona
$880 billion — cuts to Medicaid in “The One Big Beautiful Bill Act” that Biggs voted for
121,000 — Arizonans who dropped health insurance after federal tax credits expired
11 million — low-income Americans projected to lose Medicaid coverage from proposed cuts
8 — Arizona hospitals at risk of closure or service reduction
Zoom Out
The 2024 U.S. Supreme Court decision eliminating the federal constitutional right to abortion shifted the political terrain in states nationwide. Arizona voters responded by passing Proposition 139 with majority support, making the state one of several where ballot measures have affirmed abortion access rights. Healthcare coverage debates have also intensified in multiple states as Republicans in Congress have proposed reducing Medicaid enrollment and spending.
The contrast between Biggs’s voting record in Congress and Arizona voter preference on abortion reflects a broader national divide between Republican legislative leadership and public opinion in swing states.
What’s Next
Biggs and Hobbs are expected to campaign heavily on healthcare and abortion through November. The gubernatorial race will test whether Arizonans prioritize the 2024 ballot measure they passed or shift direction based on candidates’ economic and spending proposals. Additional physician and healthcare advocacy groups may join the public debate as the election approaches.