Arizona abortion law repeal is a gift for Republicans. If only they saw it that way

The Arizona House on Wednesday voted to repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban, as three Republicans sided with Democrats to roll over their colleagues and kill the 160-year-old law.

Republicans should have been thanking the defectors, who likely offered pro-life supporters their best (only?) chance of defeating an initiative to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution this fall.

Instead, GOP heads were fairly popping off and bouncing across the floor as the majority party was trampled by three of their own.

“We’re talking about killing infants, let’s think about that,” Rep. Alexander Kolodin, R-Scottsdale, growled at the defector Republicans as the repeal vote was taken. “You’re willing to kill infants in order to win an election.”

“Believe me, we will remember this,” a furious Speaker Pro-Tem Travis Grantham, R-Gilbert, said, after Republicans fended off a second motion to block later potential shenanigans meant to hold up the bill.

1864 repeal could be finalized soon

The vote means the 1864 law should be repealed as early as next Wednesday.

Two Republican senators — T.J. Shope of Coolidge and Shawnna Bolick of Phoenix — already sided with Democrats in the upper chamber to introduce an identical repeal bill last week.

Add to them now Republican Reps. Matt Gress of Phoenix, Justin Wilmeth of Phoenix and Tim Dunn of Yuma, who voted with House Democrats to repeal the 160-year-old law.

Gress and Wilmeth, like Shope and Bolick, represent swing districts and were facing likely defeat at the polls had they supported the near total abortion ban.

Dunn represents a solidly Republican district where he hopes to move into the Senate.

What Republicans do next could well decide whether they control the Legislature next year. Based on initial responses, it seems retaliation may win out over a desire run things.

Republicans would rather retaliate than win

Gress, the GOP ringleader for repeal, was immediately sent to the doghouse by House Speaker Ben Toma, who relieved him of his seat on the House Appropriations Committee.

Kolodin quickly called for his defeat later this year, which is no small thing when you consider that Republicans have just a one-vote margin in each chamber.

“Rep. Gress voted today to legalize abortion till birth. Only @pamelacarter888 deserves LD4's vote,” Kolodin posted on social media. “Republican is more than a name.”

“Today, three Republicans in the @AZHouseGOP voted WITH every Democrat, voted FOR murder, and voted FOR the shedding of innocent blood,” Rep. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, posted on social media, along with a picture of the board showing the vote tally. “Look at their names and remember them this election year. #ProLife”

Gress tried to justify his vote as something other than a political calculation.

“As someone who is both Pro-Life and the product of strong women in my life, I refuse to buy into the false notion pushed by the extremes on both sides of this issue that we cannot respect and protect women and defend new life at the same time,” he said in a statement.

OK, so he wasn’t all that convincing.

Abortion law repeal could save more lives

What he should be saying is that he and the other Republican defectors, with their votes, may actually have done more in the long term to save babies than Kolodin and Kern, with their hysterics and prayer circles on the House floor.

That’s because polls show most Arizona voters believe that abortion should be allowed, though only to a point.

Those same voters will be deciding this fall whether to enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution.

If that 19th-century law criminalizing abortion stands, look for those voters to storm the polls to pass the initiative, guaranteeing abortion to the point of viability but also beyond that if a health-care provider deems it necessary to protect a woman’s physical or mental health.

Leaked GOP abortion strategy: Insults voters

Dunn gets it.

“Should the pre-Roe law remain in effect, I firmly believe more lives will be lost over time,” he said in a statement after voting to repeal the 1864 law.

“The public backlash would result in codifying disturbing and unlimited abortions in the Arizona Constitution, which is something I cannot allow to happen. Make no mistake, my vote today is the most pro-life vote I can possibly make … .”

Who was really protecting life here?

He is, of course, right about the backlash. Republicans, if they are to have any slim hope of heading off the initiative — and it is now an exceedingly slim hope given the events of the last month — they cannot be dragging us back to the 19th century.

Restoring the existing state law that allows abortion up to 15 weeks at least gives Republicans a hope of defeating the abortion access initiative, especially if they offer an alternative that makes exceptions in the case of rape and incest.

Instead, the vast majority of Arizona’s Republican legislators took a stand to outlaw abortion for what amounts to seven months.

Had they succeeded in forcing us to live (briefly) in 1864, it would have resulted in a virtual guarantee that Arizona would have among the most liberal abortion laws in the land.

Dunn, Gress and the other defectors who sided with Democrats are right to ask the question:

Who, really, was protecting life here?

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @LaurieRoberts or on Threads at laurierobertsaz.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona abortion law repeal helps Republicans. They'd rather retaliate