Arizona lawmakers on Wednesday appear poised to repeal an anti-abortion law that first became law when Abraham Lincoln was president, half a century before women won the right to vote.
An expected vote in the Arizona Senate could be the culmination of a frenzied effort to repeal a law that has made abortion a central part of Arizona politics.
The issue galvanized Democratic voters and galvanized a campaign to introduce a bill in November that would put abortion rights to Arizona voters. On the right, between anti-abortion activists who want to keep the law in place and Republican politicians concerned about the political backlash that could be caused by supporting a near-total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. A crack appeared. .
The 1864 law has been glossed over for decades, but three weeks ago a Republican-appointed state Supreme Court justice ruled that the ban could be enforced because Roe v. Johnson was overturned. The law exploded as an election-year flashpoint. Wade.
Democrats twice tried to force a repeal bill through the Republican-controlled state Legislature, only to be blocked by conservative lawmakers. In tense scenes inside the state Capitol, Democratic lawmakers shouted “Shame on you!” Republicans protested and anti-abortion activists filled the chamber with prayers to uphold the law.
And last week, three Republicans in the Arizona House joined all Democrats in the chamber to vote to repeal the 1864 Prohibition, sending it to the Arizona Senate for final approval.
Two Republican state senators have said they support repealing the law, and lawmakers widely expect it to pass Wednesday and be signed by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs.
In a last-ditch effort to get shaken lawmakers to reconsider, anti-abortion activists said they were planning a rally in front of the Capitol building Wednesday morning and also expected to pack the state Senate public audience.
Anti-abortion activists said they fear other states where Republicans control the legislature will follow Arizona's lead.
“This blueprint for irresponsibility and meanness is being perpetrated across the country by other opportunistic Republicans who happily don the pro-life mantle for donations, but then stab the movement in the back when it’s time to act. It will be imitated,” said Chanel Prunier, vice president for government affairs. he said in a statement before the planned vote, for Life Action for Students.
Voters in red states such as Kansas and Ohio approved ballot measures protecting abortion following a 2022 Supreme Court ruling overturning the constitutional right to the procedure. Other Republican-controlled states, such as Florida and Texas, have gone in the opposite direction, passing laws that significantly restrict access to abortion.
Even if the repeal passes Wednesday, abortions in Arizona would still be limited by a number of restrictions, including a 2022 law banning abortions after 15 weeks. The law does not provide any exceptions for rape or incest.
“We still have extreme abortion bans in place,” said state Sen. Priya Sundareshan, co-chair of the Arizona Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee and a Tucson congressman.
Democrats hope the uproar over the 1864 prohibition will motivate voters to vote for President Biden in November and support a ballot measure that would enshrine the right to abortion in Arizona's constitution.
They argue that without constitutional protection in Arizona, a more conservative legislature could someday reinstate the 1864 Prohibition.
In a call with reporters Tuesday, Democratic leaders said President Donald J. Trump was responsible for restoring the 1864 law because he appointed the U.S. Supreme Court justice who ousted Roe. He strongly advocated the party's message.