Highlights

Athena Salman left the Arizona Legislature in 2024 to pursue a single goal: locking abortion access into the state constitution. She succeeded, but she says the work isn't finished.

Salman is now director of state campaigns for Reproductive Freedom for All, the advocacy organization formerly known as NARAL. Arizona voters passed Proposition 139 in November 2024, guaranteeing access to abortion until fetal viability under the state constitution. The measure, which Salman helped campaign for after leaving office, passed in every legislative district in the state, according to the Arizona Capitol Times.

In an interview with the Capitol Times published Tuesday, Salman named two accomplishments she considers defining: helping repeal the state's 1864 abortion ban while still in the Legislature, then handing that effort to Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton to carry over the finish line, and following it with the constitutional amendment in the same election cycle. "I would say two accomplishments, and one started when I was in the state Legislature: repealing the 1864 [abortion] ban," she told the Capitol Times.

Salman said she left the Legislature in part because the $24,000 annual legislative salary had not kept pace with the cost of raising two young daughters. She told the Capitol Times she does not shy away from that reality, calling it a structural barrier to diverse, long-term representation in the statehouse.

The threats she now tracks are legislative and federal. The Republican-controlled Legislature has continued to introduce abortion restrictions since Prop. 139 passed, and anti-abortion groups are gauging interest in a potential repeal measure. The Trump administration has also signaled interest in a national abortion ban. Salman told the Capitol Times that a federal ban would be a setback for Arizona residents who, in her words, "literally just crawled our way out of these bans and restrictions", though she noted Prop. 139 would provide some protection.

Salman, a first-generation college graduate whose mother is the daughter of immigrants and whose father is Palestinian, said her two daughters are now the primary motivation for her work. She told the Capitol Times she envisions them as young adults looking back and saying her efforts ensured they did not have to live through the restrictions she fought against.

Why does Salman say Prop. 139 is still at risk?

Salman points to two pressure points: the Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature, which she says has continued to introduce abortion bans and restrictions despite Prop. 139 winning every legislative district, and the Trump administration's stated interest in a national abortion ban that would override state constitutional protections.

A council vote on Prop. 139's implementing rules is not yet scheduled; Salman's organization continues to monitor legislative activity in the current session.

Sources

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  1. azcapitoltimes.com retrieved 11/08/2026 21:45

Authored by The Scottsdale Signal. Drafted by AI from primary-source material under our beat-specific editorial guides; reviewed by humans before publish under our five-gate process. Sources retrieved at 11/08/2026 21:45. Every claim traces to a source.