PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs’ signature repeal of a Civil War-era ban on nearly all abortions was an emotional occasion for women working to ensure the 19th-century law remains in the past.
Current and former state lawmakers and reproductive rights advocates packed the 9th-floor rotunda across from Hobbs’ office Thursday afternoon, hugging each other and taking selfies to capture the moment. Some cried.
“It’s a historic moment and it’s a place and a time where all the exciting moments come together,” said Democratic Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton during the signing ceremony. It doesn’t fit in the present.”
Stahl and Sen. Anna Hernandez, also a Democrat, were the two current lawmakers chosen to speak at the ceremony for their efforts to secure the repeal of the long-dormant law banning all abortions except those performed to save a patient’s life.
The effort won final legislative approval on Wednesday in a 16-14 vote in the Senate, when two Republican lawmakers joined Democrats during a roughly three-hour session where motivations for the votes were described in personal, emotional terms. and even biblical. There were graphic descriptions of abortion procedures and amplified audio of fetal heartbeats, along with warnings against “legislating religious beliefs.”
Abortion ban supporters in the Senate gallery mocked Republican state Sen. Shawnna Bolick as she explained her vote in favor of repeal, then were rebuked by fellow Republicans. Bolick is married to state Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, who voted with the majority in April to reinstate the 1864 law. He faces a retention election in November.
The House previously approved the repeal, with three Republicans in that chamber breaking ranks.
Hobbs says the measure is just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive health care in Arizona. The repeal is expected to take effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, which typically occurs in June or July, after the budget is approved.
“This means everything to get this archaic and inhumane territorial law off the books,” said Dr. Gabrielle Goodrick, founder of Phoenix-based Camelback Family Planning, which performs a third of Arizona’s abortions.
A 2022 law banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy will become Arizona’s current abortion law.
Abortion rights advocates, led by Planned Parenthood Arizona, have filed a motion with the state Supreme Court to block the 1846 law from being enforced before repeal. If rejected, girls and women could see a pause in abortion services.
The 19th century law had been blocked in Arizona since 1973 with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. Wade, who guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion throughout the country. When the federal law was overturned in 2022, it left Arizona in legal limbo.
The Arizona Supreme Court last month set the state back decades and reinstated a ban that offers no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. The judges suggested that the doctors could be prosecuted for breaking the law, with a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
The anti-abortion group advocating the ban, Alliance Defending Freedom, says county prosecutors could begin enforcing it as soon as the Supreme Court ruling becomes final, which it hasn’t yet. Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes is pushing to delay enforcement of the ban until the end of July.
Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates are collecting signatures to enshrine reproductive rights in the Arizona constitution. A proposed ballot measure would allow abortions 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 mental health.
Republican lawmakers are considering putting one or more competing abortion proposals before voters in November.
This week, elsewhere in the US, supporters of an abortion rights initiative in South Dakota submitted far more signatures than needed to get on the ballot this fall, while in Florida a ban against most abortions went into effect after six weeks into pregnancy, before many people even know they are pregnant.
President Joe Biden’s campaign team believes anger over the Roe v. Wade will give them a political advantage in swing states like Arizona, although the issue has divided Republican leaders.
For the Democratic women who led the recall effort in Arizona, Thursday was a time of celebration, but it also showed there is more work to be done, they said.
In an interview before the signing ceremony, Stahl Hamilton spoke about her early years on the Navajo Nation, where her parents were teachers and where federally funded clinics still limit abortion services.
She spoke about a sister-in-law who, according to her, faced two difficult pregnancies, one that resulted in a stillbirth and another that was unviable, in which “they had to make the painful decision to terminate the pregnancy because there was no brain development. ”
“And I imagine if any of these laws had been in effect during the time she needed care, it would have really wreaked havoc,” Stahl Hamilton said.
When the Civil War-era ban was passed, all 27 legislators were men, America was at war over the right to own slaves and women couldn’t vote, Hobbs said. Now, the Arizona legislature is evenly split between men and women.
Hernandez became involved in politics after her younger brother, Alejandro, was killed in a police shooting in April 2019. She and her other two brothers have tattoos of his portrait on their left arms.
Her sister is a labor and delivery nurse and she has two nieces, ages 16 and 12, she said.
“Right now, I think about them being able to grow up in the state that we love so much, having the rights they have,” she said.
Former Democratic state Rep. Athena Salman was so emotional Thursday that she could barely speak when called to the lectern at the signing ceremony. She proposed repealing the 19th century law in 2019, three years before Roe v. Wade. Wade be nullified.
Salman, who resigned in January to lead an abortion advocacy group, said he can’t stop thinking about his daughters.
“Future generations will not have to live under the restrictions and interference we have had to experience,” she said.
