Democrats in the Arizona Legislature are expected to make a final push Wednesday to repeal the state’s near-total abortion ban.
Fourteen Democrats in the state Senate are hoping to get at least two Republican votes to win final approval of a bill repealing the ban, which narrowly passed the Arizona House last week and is expected to be signed by the Democratic governor.
Related: Florida’s six-week abortion ban goes into effect, ending access in Southeastern US
The almost total ban, which predates the creation of the State of Arizona, allows abortion only to save the patient’s life – and does not provide exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. The law had been in effect since 1864, but had been blocked since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v Wade decision in 1973 guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion nationwide.
In a ruling last month, however, the Arizona Supreme Court suggested that, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year to overturn Roe v Wade, doctors could be prosecuted under the law at the time. civil war. Under the law, anyone who assists in an abortion can be sentenced to two to five years in prison.
If the repeal bill is signed, a 2022 statute banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy would become Arizona’s current abortion law. Still, there would likely be a period in which almost all abortions would be banned, because the repeal won’t take effect until 90 days after the end of the legislative session, probably in June or July.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said the first day the state could impose the ban would be June 27. She asked the state’s highest court to block the execution for a three-month period, which ends at the end of July. And she promised not to enforce the law.
The anti-abortion group advocating the ban, Alliance Defending Freedom, maintains that county prosecutors could begin enforcing it as soon as the State Supreme Court ruling becomes final, which it has not yet.
Planned Parenthood officials pledged to continue providing abortions during the short period they are still legal and said they would bolster networks that help patients travel out of state to places like New Mexico and California to access abortions.
The abortion decision has put enormous pressure on Republicans in Arizona, one of the few swing states that will decide the next president. Republicans have found themselves under fire from conservatives in their base, who strongly support the abortion ban, and from swing voters who strongly oppose the measure.
Donald Trump, who warned that the issue could lead to Republican losses, stopped short of endorsing a national abortion ban but said he was proud to have appointed the Supreme Court justices who allowed states to ban them.
Whether or not Democrats are able to repeal the ban, abortion will be a key issue in the Arizona elections in November. Pro-choice advocates are collecting signatures for a ballot measure that would allow abortion until the fetus can survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks, with exceptions – to save the parents’ lives or to protect their physical or health. mental.
Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, are considering placing one or more competing abortion proposals on the November ballot.
A leaked planning document outlined approaches being considered by House Republicans, such as codifying existing abortion regulations, proposing a 14-week ban that would be “disguised as a 15-week bill” because it would allow abortion up until the beginning of the 15th week. , and a measure that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, before many people know they are pregnant.
House Republicans have not yet publicly released any proposed ballot measures.
