Senate votes to overturn Arizona abortion ban, sends repeal of 1864 law to governor
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Corrections & Clarifications: A photo caption incorrectly identified the person hugging state Sen. Rosanna Gabaldón. Gabaldón is pictured hugging state Rep. Lorena Austin.
The Arizona Legislature on Wednesday left 19th-century abortion policy behind with a Senate vote to repeal a 160-year-old law.
Senate Democrats — along with Republican Sen. Shawnna Bolick of Phoenix and Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope of Coolidge — voted 16-14 to pass House Bill 2677, which eliminates the near-total abortion ban from state statutes. The repeal bill's passage came after a procedural vote swapping it for a Senate repeal bill and ensuring it would go directly to Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs' desk.
Hobbs said she would sign the repeal “as soon as it gets to my desk.”
She said in an interview with The Arizona Republic she was relieved when her staff told her the Senate had passed the repeal.
“I am looking forward to signing it and doing away with it once and for all,” she said. “But I think it is devastating that we are even having a conversation about a Civil War-era ban in 2024, and the last few weeks have obviously created untold amounts of chaos and fear across the state."
After Hobbs signs it, the bill will be set to take effect 90 days after the last day of the year's legislative session. It's still unknown when the session will end, but it's possible the repeal won't take effect until late September.
When the old law’s finally gone, the state’s 2022 law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy will be in effect.
Before the final vote on the repeal, Republican Sen. Jake Hoffman of Queen Creek tried to introduce a motion to require law enforcement to be notified for some abortions but was shut down by Senate President Warren Petersen, who said his motion was out of order. As Hoffman continued to protest, Shope muttered loudly from his desk: “That’s the rules, a------.”
When Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli gave him a verbal warning, Shope responded: “I don’t care.”
Both sides demonstrate
Ahead of the vote, more than 100 demonstrators and people on both sides of the abortion issue gathered outside the Senate building, many holding signs supporting their point of view. Supporters of abortion restrictions, along with a few advocates for legal abortions, filled the observation gallery to capacity.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle presented a total of about two hours of floor speeches as the chamber voted.
Bolick delivered a speech stretching over 25 minutes to explain her vote. She shared her experience of having a dilation and curettage procedure, known as a D&C, when her fetus was no longer viable during the first trimester of pregnancy. D&Cs are often performed after miscarriages or abortions to remove tissue left behind in the uterus.
“Having gotten a D&C my first trimester because the baby wasn’t viable was very tough,” Bolick said. “Would Arizona’s pre-Roe law have allowed me to have this medical procedure, even though at the time my life was not in danger?”
Her speech also covered her appointment to the Senate in 2023 and critiques of Hobbs, drawing groans and catcalls from the crowded gallery. "This is a disgrace!" a woman yelled, one of several observers who drew rebukes from Petersen about a lack of decorum.
Other Republicans combined to voice criticism of the repeal. Sen. Anthony Kern, a Glendale Republican, derided Republicans who voted for the repeal and still claim to be “pro-life,” calling their position the “epitome of delusion.”
Kern said Republicans are advancing the bill in the hope “it’s going to help us with the next election,” but unifying over “life” would work better, he asserted.
Hoffman, Kern and Sen. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, chastised Bolick and Shope for “rolling their caucus” by voting with Democrats. But Sen. Ken Bennett of Prescott defended the two, despite voting with the rest of the Republican caucus against the repeal.
“I just want to stand in support of every member of this body being able to vote their conscience,” Bennett said on the floor.
Hobbs defends deciding against calling abortion special session
Hobbs, other Democratic lawmakers and party leaders blasted GOP lawmakers who voted in favor of the repeal as doing so only out of fear of political repercussions.
“This should have happened a long time ago, and the only reason it's happening now, and I mean, I'm glad it is, but it's because it's politically inconvenient for some of these Republicans to have a total abortion ban in place," Hobbs said.
Taking questions after attending a ribbon cutting for a mixed-income housing development in Phoenix, Hobbs explained why she did not call lawmakers into a special session, a move that her administration has said was not necessary in part because it wasn’t clear that a majority of lawmakers would vote to repeal the ban. Because bills go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, a special session may have allowed the ban to be repealed sooner.
But Hobbs said the Legislature is wrapping up its work and had “maybe a month left.” The budget should be done “relatively soon, not too much longer,” the governor said.
“It’s not significantly sooner, it’s not months sooner,” Hobbs said, of when a special session would allow the ban to be repealed.
“The difference in those days at this point is minimal compared to the logistics involved. It just, it wasn’t necessary, it wasn’t going to solve the issue. And the chaos we saw in the House wouldn’t have changed with a special session.”
When she was a candidate in 2022, Hobbs pledged to call lawmakers into a special session on Day 1 to repeal the ban if she were elected governor. Abortion was a dominant campaign issue, and when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it sent Arizona into a period of uncertainty because of the two conflicting laws on the books.
Hobbs never did call for that special session once in office, with her staff saying it wasn’t necessary because an Arizona court allowed the 15-week law to go into effect over the ban.
Abortion ruling spurred some in GOP to support repeal
The state House of Representatives set the stage for the repeal on April 24 following weeks of political angst over the state Supreme Court opinion, which allowed for the law's enforcement. The law mandates two to five years in prison for abortion providers and threatens to end nearly all abortions in the state.
With Republican support from Reps. Matt Gress and Justin Wilmeth of Phoenix and Tim Dunn of Yuma, Democrats in the House passed a bill on their third try and sent it to the Senate last week. The Legislature has been meeting only each Wednesday since last month as bill-making winds down and leaders work on the state budget.
The territorial law became a dire issue for abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The court's decision led abortion foes to try to lift a stay on the law that had been in place since 1973. That happened on April 9, spurring Republicans in swing districts to support the repeal.
After Wednesday's repeal vote, Planned Parenthood Arizona filed a motion with the court requesting it delay issuing the mandate of its ruling until after the repeal takes effect. If the court approves, it could stall any potential enforcement of the 1864 law until after November's election, when Arizonans are likely to see a measure on the ballot enshrining the right to abortion in the state constitution.
Cathi Herrod, president of the powerful, anti-abortion group Center for Arizona Policy, has criticized the Republicans who supported the repeal and predicted they would see no political benefit.
"Pro-lifers today are very disappointed," she said. "It's a sad day for unborn children and their mothers."
The focus for abortion opponents will now turn to trying to defeat the expected pro-choice ballot measure, she said.
Democrats blast GOP colleagues over delay, 'misinformation'
Sen. Anna Hernandez, a Phoenix Democrat, introduced a repeal bill two weeks ago that was later swapped with a House version. Although Wednesday's outcome was clear before voting even started, Hernandez said she was surprised by what she called the "misinformation and inaccuracies" in senators' speeches.
She specifically took issue with descriptions of the abortion process, saying a graphic description presented by Hoffman as he read from a doctor's testimony to Congress is not the case in all abortions.
Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson, joined fellow Democratic lawmakers in the Senate after the vote to blame the delayed repeal on Republicans, from Donald Trump down to their colleagues at the statehouse.
“We have sounded the alarm for the past 22 days about extreme Arizona Republicans stalling the vote, lying about their records, and launching a plan to confuse voters and limit access to abortion and reproductive rights," said Stahl Hamilton, who sponsored the House bill that won Senate approval.
"Two more seats puts us in the majority where we drive the agenda," she added later. “Let's make this the last year that abortion rights are put in jeopardy."
“The job’s been done, and it's a proud day for our state and our Democratic team," House Democratic Leader Lupe Contreras said in a prepared statement after the vote. "We know this is not the finish line, but this is a step in the right direction, and a step that will save lives.”
Republic reporters Mary Jo Pitzl and Reagan Priest contributed to this article.
Reach the reporter at rstern@arizonarepublic.com or 480-276-3237. Follow him on X @raystern.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona abortion ban: 1864 law repeal bill clears Legislature
