Arizona state House legislators attempted to approve a bill repealing the nearly complete prohibition on abortion from 1864, which was affirmed by the state’s Supreme Court earlier this month, for the third time in three weeks. The vote took place on Wednesday.
ABout the removal Arizona Abortion 1864 law
Following a bewildering afternoon of voting, three state House Republicans sided with Democrats to approve the repeal of the Civil War-era statute that criminalized abortion and imposed a two- to five-year prison sentence on anybody who performed or assisted a woman in obtaining one.
Republicans also control a slim majority in the state Senate, where members last week approved a resolution to introduce a bill that would lift the prohibition on abortion. On that vote, two Republicans voted with every Democrat in the house.
As early as next Wednesday, the state Senate may take a vote on the repeal after the bill is brought to the floor for a “third reading,” as required by chamber rules.
According to an Arizonan source acquainted with the matter, the state Senate is expected to approve a repeal of the law, as NBC News was informed. Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs will undoubtedly swiftly sign the repeal after that.
Democrats and proponents of abortion rights, including the White House, applauded Arizona lawmakers for passing the repeal.
Regarding the vote, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated that it’s a positive thing. We’re heading in the correct path as we proceed.
As a result of his appointment of three U.S. senators, the Biden campaign accused former President Donald Trump of being “responsible for Arizona’s abortion ban” and blamed him for the unrest. judges on the Supreme Court who reversed Roe v. Wade.
Biden 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement that “the chaos and cruelty he has created will only get worse in all 50 states if he retakes power.”
The state Supreme Court upheld the 160-year-old near-total ban earlier this month, prompting the state House to vote on repeal for the third time in its history.
Following the decision, Republicans nationwide—including Trump, who has stated that he supports allowing states to choose their own abortion laws—called on state lawmakers to overturn the ban. This came amid a broader political backlash against the Republican Party on the subject of reproductive rights in the nearly two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
However, Republicans in the Arizona state House, where they have a slim majority, had refused to give up on preventing the advancement of a repeal bill.
Reps. Matt Gress, Tim Dunn, and Justin Wilmeth, three Republicans, and 29 Democrats voted in favor of the repeal on Wednesday, suggesting that Republicans in the chamber were finally giving up in the face of mounting criticism.
During the three allotted speeches during the vote process, Republican opponents of the repeal begged their peers to reject the bill.
Republican speaker of the state house Ben Toma remarked, “We should not have rushed this bill through the legislative process.” Rather, we are jumping to judgments these days.
Speaker Pro Tempore of the House Travis Grantham expressed his heartbreak that you were present to see this, then voted “no”. Grantham went on to say, “I’m proud of my Republican caucus that has fought this off for as long as it has,” accusing Democrats of using the matter as a political football.
It is awful to watch how this has been weaponized against one party and used against the other, he said. Following the hearing on Wednesday, Grantham reprimanded Gress and Democratic Assistant Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos for their committee assignments, calling the vote a terrible and repugnant situation.
Republicans in the state House submitted a motion asking an immediate vote on a bill to overturn the 160-year-old abortion ban just last week, during the chamber’s previous session. Democrats moved once more to compel a vote after the first attempt at doing so failed.
Republicans had an easier time blocking the vote since it was a procedural vote to suspend rules in the state House. In order to suspend the rules and take an urgent vote, the speaker and the majority of the house must vote in favor of the suspension. On Wednesday, there were no such barriers as the voting took place in accordance with regular House procedure.
Following the stunning decision by the Arizona Supreme Court earlier this month, the hearings on Wednesday represented the most recent development in the pivotal battleground of the abortion rights movement.
The statute, which the conservative-leaning court upheld, makes having an abortion a crime that carries a two-to five-year prison sentence for anyone who performs one or assists a woman in getting one. The law, which forbade abortion from the moment of conception but allowed for an exemption to be made in order to save the woman’s life, was codified in 1901 and again in 1913, following Arizona’s statehood.
The bill is set to take effect as early as June 8, but Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes has indicated that her office is investigating ways to delay that date. Revisions take effect ninety days after the conclusion of the legislative session in Arizona, so even if the Senate approves the ban next week and Hobbs signs it soon after, it is unlikely to stay long. Late in July of last year, the session came to an end.
Mayes stated in a statement that we may still be looking at a period of time when the 1864 [ban] could potentially take effect.
Should the 1864 ban be successfully repealed, state policy will probably revert to a 15-week ban on abortions with the exception of rape and incest, but not for medical emergencies.
After Wednesday’s vote, a few well-known anti-abortion organizations urged Republicans to come together in support of the measure, which went into effect in 2022.
Arizonans will soon understand the state’s abortion laws—a 15-week protection for the unborn—after months of uncertainty, according to a statement from Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser. Kari Lake and all other Republican contenders and public servants ought to educate Arizonans by fervently advocating for Arizona’s 15-week protection with caveats.
Voters in November will likely have the authority to determine the fate of abortion rights in the state, notwithstanding the ongoing efforts to overturn them.
The state’s activists have a good chance of getting a proposed constitutional amendment, which would establish a “fundamental right” to access abortion treatment up until fetal viability, or roughly the 24th week of pregnancy, on the ballot in November. Should voters pass the ballot item, the 1864 ban—which is now in existence in the state—would be essentially repealed.
Additionally, it would prohibit the state from limiting access to abortion care in circumstances when a treating medical expert determines that the pregnant person’s health or life is in danger after the point of viability.
However, according to a leaked strategy document that was shared among Arizona Republicans, the state Supreme Court ruling prompted Republicans to also consider a number of potential countermeasures to topple that effort, including promoting alternative ballot measures to compete with the pro-abortion rights proposed amendment.
Republicans voted to approve three resolutions at a brief state House Rules committee meeting on Wednesday. Republicans did not specify the resolutions, despite claims by Democrats and proponents of abortion rights that the motions were probably GOP-backed ballot issues.
I can’t let you know what the topic will be. Speaking at the hearing was House Speaker Pro Tempore Grantham.
Arizona for Abortion Access spokesperson Chris Love referred to the resolutions as three dishonest placeholder bills that marked the beginning of referring up to three anti-abortion measures to the November ballot with the intention of misleading and confusing voters in an attempt to sway their votes away from the Arizona Abortion Access Act.
About The Author
