Arizona lawmakers have repealed the state’s 160-year-old statute banning nearly all abortions.
The 1864 law, which was reinstated by the state supreme court three weeks ago, has made abortion a central focus in the battleground state and galvanized Democrats seeking to enshrine abortion rights.
In the state senate, Democrats picked up the support of two Republicans in favor of repealing the ban. The Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, is expected to ratify the repeal, which narrowly cleared the Arizona house last week after three Republicans joined with all the Democrats in the chamber.
Dozens of demonstrators for and against the right to abortion gathered at the capitol before the vote, and others packed into the chamber’s gallery to watch. As senators began to vote, Republicans in the chamber voiced bombastic protests and criticisms in floor speeches.
Antony Kern, a Republican who has been indicted as a fake elector in a plot to undermine the 2020 election results, said his fellow Republicans backing the ban were the “epitome of delusion”. He claimed the vote would take the state down a slippery slope towards acceptance of pedophilia, as supporters cheered from the gallery with silent claps. Kern also compared the chamber repealing the bill to Nazi Germany.
Another Republican senator, JD Mesnard, played a sonogram recording of his child’s heartbeat on the floor. He said: “These will be fewer, these heart beatings.”
Republican Shawnna Bolick gave a 20-minute speech in defense of her vote to support the repeal, covering stories about her own pregnancies, other pregnancies, and her critiques of the state’s Democratic governor. Ultimately, she said, repealing the ban would allow Republicans to maintain a less extreme version of abortion restrictions. She said: “We should be pushing for the maximum protection for unborn children that can be sustained. I side with saving more babies’ lives.”
The civil-war era statute, which predates Arizona’s statehood, bans nearly all abortions, including those sought by survivors of rape or incest. It also imposes prison terms for doctors and others who aid in abortions. The law had been blocked by the 1973 supreme court Roe v Wade decisions that granted the constitutional right to abortion.
“We are relieved that lawmakers have finally repealed this inhumane abortion ban – something extremist politicians refused to do for far too long,” said Victoria López, director of program and strategy for the ACLU of Arizona. “Unfortunately, cruel abortion bans like the law from 1864 have been at the center of political stunts for years, causing lasting harm to people who need abortions and their providers.”
Last month, the state’s Republican-appointed supreme court justices suggested it could be reinstated since Roe was overturned in 2022.
The repeal would not take effect until June or July, 90 days after the legislative session. Arizona’s attorney general, Kris Mayes, a Democrat, has vowed not to enforce the ban in the meantime. Providers, including Planned Parenthood, have been preparing resources to help patients seeking abortions to travel out of state during the time that the ban is in effect.
“Today’s vote by the Arizona senate to repeal the draconian 1864 abortion ban is a win for freedom in our state,” Mayes said.
Once the 1864 measure is stricken, a 2022 statue banning procedures after 15 weeks of pregnancy would supplant it as the state’s ruling abortion law.
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Abortion rights advocates have emphasized that repealing the ban is not enough. “This is an important step, but our work isn’t done,” said Ruben Gallego, a US congressman from Arizona who is running for the US Senate. “Arizona women deserve better. That’s why we’re going to pass a constitutional right to abortion and defeat anti-abortion extremists.”
Democrats have been pushing for a ballot measure in November that would enshrine the right to abortions in the state’s constitution. In the weeks since the ban was reinstated , the Arizona for Abortion Access effort saw its volunteers grow from about 3,000 to more than 5,000.
“Nothing has changed about the need for the Arizona abortion access act,” the group organizing the ballot measure said following the passage of the repeal.
The issue has placed enormous pressure on the Arizona GOP, from conservatives who support the ban and from swing voters who oppose the extreme measure. On the senate floor on Wednesday, Bolick, as she cast her vote in favor of the repeal, said: “I want to protect our state constitution from unlimited abortions up until the moment of birth.”
In the key swing state – one that historically leaned Republican but backed Joe Biden in 2020 – the issue could help turn out more voters who could help flip the statehouse blue.
Republican lawmakersare considering putting one or more competing abortion proposals on the November ballot, including a 14-week ban and a “heartbeat protection act” that would make abortion illegal after six weeks. No such measures have been introduced yet.
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
