Kari Lake Wants You To Forget She Supported Arizona’s Near-Total Abortion Ban
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When Arizona’s state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a near-total abortion ban on the books since 1864, Kari Lake, the leading GOP candidate for Senate in the swing state, came out forcefully against the decision.
“I wholeheartedly agree with [former] President [Donald] Trump — this is a very personal issue that should be determined by each individual state and her people,” Lake said in a statement that noted her status as the “only woman and mother” in the Senate race. “I oppose today’s ruling, and I am calling on [Arizona Gov.] Katie Hobbs and the State Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support.”
But in February 2022, when Lake appeared at a candidate forum while running for governor, her thoughts on the near-total ban were much different.
“We have a great law on the books right now,” Lake said of the old law, which had become unenforceable under Roe v. Wade. A month later, Arizona passed a 15-week ban in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision ultimately overturning abortion protections.
If Roe v. Wade was struck down, Lake said at the time, “we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore.”
Lake changed her position in February of this year when she told NBC News she supported the state’s 15-week abortion ban, rather than the 1864 measure known as the “territorial law” because it predates Arizona’s statehood. Arizona re-codified the ban, which only offers an exception for the life of the mother, in 1912, after it was admitted to the Union. The law has no exceptions for rape or incest, and doctors found guilty of performing the procedure face up to five years in prison.
Lake’s flip is one of the most glaring among the several Republican Senate contenders who are hoping voters won’t remember their more extreme stances from earlier in their careers, before the Supreme Court ignited a ferocious political backlash with its overturn of Roe v. Wade’s guarantee of abortion rights.
It also shows just how potent the issue of abortion rights could be in determining the presidential and Senate races in Arizona, a key swing state dominated by suburban voters. Lake is set to face Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in a battle to replace retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent, in November.
Lake may find it hard to walk back the public instances of her supporting the 1864 law as she runs for Senate.
“I think the older law is going to go into effect ― that’s what I believe will happen,” Lake predicted during a GOP debate in July 2022.
The debate moderator followed up: “OK, but you approve of that — at conception?”
“I believe that life begins at conception,” Lake responded, suggesting she had no problem with the territorial law’s complete ban on the procedure.
The Arizona abortion ruling will not take effect right away. The Arizona Supreme Court issued a stay until a lower court can weigh in on additional questions about its constitutionality.
But the political fallout has been immediate. The ruling is expected to turbocharge Democratic efforts to put a measure on the ballot seeking to codify abortion rights in the state constitution, a push that began well before Tuesday’s ruling. Arizona for Abortion Access says it’s already collected enough signatures for the constitutional amendment ahead of the July deadline.
Republicans went from confronting a potentially challenging election year to one that could be catastrophic. The fate of a U.S. Senate majority for Republicans, as well as a return to the White House, may hinge on how the GOP does in Arizona, with further ramifications down the ballot.
“This is a political earthquake that if not fixed by the legislature will cost Republicans seats in November,” said Barrett Marson, a GOP consultant in Arizona. “If the status quo remains the same, this is a huge problem for Republicans up and down the ballot ... Yesterday, Democrats had a real chance to flip one of the houses in the [state] legislature. Now I think both houses go Democrat. Kari Lake was going to be competitive — maybe. Now, I think she’s done.”
Arizona Democrats wasted no time tying Lake to the decision, even as she tried to distance herself from it.
Gallego cited Lake’s description of the 1864 ban as a “great law.”
“Yet again, extremist politicians like Kari Lake are forcing themselves into doctors’ offices and ripping away the right for women to make their own healthcare decisions,” Gallego said in a statement. “Lake called this a ‘great law’ – even though it will ban nearly all abortions, including in cases of rape or incest.”
“Here in Arizona, we support a woman’s right to an abortion — which is why I am going to defeat Kari Lake and fight like hell to protect abortion rights once and for all,” he added.
