The 1974 Stadium Law: How an Arizona Stadium Renovation Bill Has Impeded Medical Education on Reproductive Health for Nearly 50 Years

One year after the Supreme Court decision on Roe vs. Wade in 1973, the University of Arizona was awarded a bond through Senate Bill 1245 for renovations to its football stadium. However, it came at a high price that is still paid for by medical students and Arizonans. A legislative rider titled ‘Abortion at educational facility prohibited’ limited the College of Medicine and affiliated teaching hospitals in their ability to provide necessary procedures for women. The revised statute 35-196.02 further prohibited training in abortions in state-funded institutions. Consequently, Planned Parenthood became a primary source for abortion training and shadowing opportunities for OB/GYN residents and medical students in Arizona.

Arizona legislation enacted in 2011, A.R.S. 36-2153 and 36-2155, imposed a 24-hour waiting period on patients seeking an abortion (requiring two clinic visits) and banned physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurse midwives from providing medical abortion drugs. Research by Williams et al. in 2017 detailed the impact: the proportion of Arizona’s counties with abortion clinics decreased from 33% to 13% and patients sought abortions later in gestation, likely due to new barriers and restriction to medical abortion access. Due to a national shortage of physicians who are trained in abortion and continuously accumulating restrictive legislation, abortion access in Arizona is deteriorating. 

This creates a troubling combination of barriers that not only obstructs clinical education and opportunities, but impedes the lives of our patients who seek reproductive health care. The national statistics are staggering: 87% of counties in the U.S. do not have an abortion provider. A 2011 study by Sulberg et al. showed that while 97% of OB/GYNs encountered patients seeking abortions, only 14% provided abortions. Here, we present a review of this trend of restrictive legislation and its dual impact on medical education opportunities and patient outcomes.