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by Alia Beard Rau and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez - Mar. 28, 2012 11:09 PM The Republic | azcentral.com

A fissure between moderates and conservatives within Arizona's Republican party has become more obvious at the state Legislature.

On Wednesday, the political split led to the downfall of a controversial bill to allow employers and insurance companies to opt out of covering contraception for religious reasons. The divide also is the reason bills to allow guns on college campuses and require schools to check students' citizenship status failed to gain traction this session.

But while the death of the contraception bill has Democratic lawmakers celebrating, experts say it's not likely a sign that one of the nation's most conservative legislatures has suddenly had a change of political heart -- lawmakers have still introduced bills promoting conservative causes. And at the Arizona Legislature, nothing is ever really dead until the session ends, probably sometime in mid-April, so the contraception bill is likely to resurface later.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted 17-13 against House Bill 2625, with seven of the Legislature's more moderate Republicans joining all nine Democrats to oppose it.

Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, was the eighth Republican no vote, but only after changing her vote in a procedural move to allow her to ask for a revote, possibly as early as today. Legislative rules allow only a member of the prevailing side to request a revote.

The bill, pushed by the Arizona Catholic Conference, the lobbying arm of the state's bishops, and the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative religious-rights advocacy group, has been in the national spotlight. It has drawn considerable opposition from some women's groups who claim it would reduce access to birth control.

And earlier this month Gov. Jan Brewer indicated she had concerns about some aspects of it.

But not even an amendment to clear up some of the confusion and controversy surrounding the bill could save it. The bill would have required employers to cover any contraception prescribed for reasons other than to prevent pregnancy or cause an abortion. The amended version clarifies that women could seek reimbursement from their insurance company for birth control used for reasons other than contraception. There was some concern the bill would have required women to seek reimbursement from their employer.

Barto and bill sponsor Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale, were surprised the bill got voted down because they said they thought they had enough votes to pass it.

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Arizona Democrats, moderates block state birth-control bill