Arizona Republicans uphold 1864 abortion ban
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
STORY: On Wednesday, Democrats in the Arizona state House failed to repeal a controversial ban on abortion that dates back to 1864 after they couldn’t muster Republican support.
UPSOT: 1.State Rep. Travis Grantham, Arizona House Of Representatives Speaker Pro Tempore and Republican, Saying (Speaking Over Board Showing Votes):
“The motion to overrule my ruling fails.”
Meaning the Civil War-era measure is poised to become state law once again.
The law imposes a prison sentence of two to five years for anyone found guilty of inducing an abortion except for a doctor who deems it necessary to save the life of the mother.
After a series of votes the chamber was deadlocked at 30 to 30 with only one Republican joining the 29 democrats.
State representative and Democrat Alma Hernandez said the world is watching:
“There are so many people who are watching right now and watching what Arizona is doing. The fact that we will not even entertain a motion to allow those who have been raped or pregnant by incest to be able to have an abortion, is extremely, extremely disappointing.”
The old law was revived by a state Supreme Court Ruling on April 9, and unless the legislature intervenes it could take effect in less than two months.
Democrats have made clear their intention to put abortion front and center in November’s election, two years after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision and ruled that abortion was not constitutionally protected.
Opposing abortion is seen as sacrosanct to many Republican voters, including Republican State representative and Speaker Ben Toma:
“I understand that we have deeply held beliefs. And I would ask everyone in this chamber to respect the fact that some of us who believe that abortion is, in fact, the murder of children.”
However, repealing the 1864 law would still leave in place a law passed by state Republicans in 2022 which bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Arizona Democrats are also attempting to add ballot measures before voters in November that would restore their abortion rights.
