Athena Salman quits Arizona House to step into abortion rights fight

Rep. Athena Salman, a Democrat and the state's first elected official of Palestinian descent, announced she will resign from the Arizona legislature on Dec. 31 after nearly seven years in office.

Salman is leaving her District 8 seat for a new role as director of Arizona campaigns for Reproductive Freedom for All, a national nonprofit known as NARAL that advocates for reproductive rights.

“It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve in the Arizona State Legislature,” said Salman on X, formerly known as Twitter. “ While I am looking forward to this next chapter in my life, I will be forever grateful to my constituents, supporters, friends and family for the steadfast encouragement.”

Salman is one of just six current state lawmakers of Palestinian descent across the country. She recently garnered attention for her outspoken advocacy for a ceasefire in Gaza. She also had spoken out against the Israeli military’s bombing and ground campaign in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks.

“I was doing some reflection, and it felt like the time to leave personally. I was really pleased with what I was able to accomplish in the legislature,” Salman told Phoenix New Times. “But I’ve welcomed two girls into the world, and I wonder about their future. I want them to enter their adulthood with more rights than I had, but right now the reality is it’s the opposite of that.”

Salman's decision to join Reproductive Freedom for All comes a week after the Arizona Supreme Court heard a case that will decide the future of abortion in the state. Justices are weighing which of two extreme laws takes precedent — a 2022 law banning abortions after 15 weeks of gestation or an archaic 1864 law that forbids doctors from performing any abortions except those to save a patient’s life.

“The right to decide if, when and how to start and grow your family faces the largest threat in generations,” Salman said in a press release. “We are one bad court decision away from a 160-year-old total ban on abortion being reinstated in Arizona.”

Organizers are also working to put a measure on the November 2024 ballot that would allow voters to enshrine abortion access in the Arizona constitution. It needs about 384,000 signatures to make the ballot.

The scramble to ensure reproductive freedoms has been underway in Arizona since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

“Now is the time to fight to win back those rights but in a more expansive and more inclusive way than Roe v. Wade offered from the beginning,” Salman told New Times, adding that reproductive rights will be a top issue among voters. She said she will be working to pass the ballot initiative and help elect pro-choice leaders.

Robbie Sherwood, communications director for Arizona House Democrats, called Salman a "fierce" advocate for abortion rights.

“It’s certainly a good fit with her values and the type of issues that she has advocated down here,” Sherwood said. “She’s probably our most fierce and effective champion for abortion rights that I’ve seen down here in a long time.”

Salman’s replacement will come as quickly as Democrats in her district can meet and vote for three candidates to send to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who will then name one of them to the House seat.

“It could take them a number of weeks; they could do it relatively fast,” Sherwood said. “I think that they’ll probably opt for moving quickly because the session is about to start on Jan. 8.”

Salman said she was most proud of how she navigated the legislature, which she called “an environment and a process that leaves many people locally and globally dehumanized.”

“I’m really proud of the fact that I showed up with a heart, showed up with a voice, speaking up and speaking out for people who too often are marginalized and excluded from positions of power. And I did it unapologetically,” Salman said. “The most important thing is having heart for people. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.”

In 2018, New Times named Salman Best Politician.