When it was Shawnna Bolick’s turn to speak, the words tumbled out of her for 20 minutes. The conservative lawmaker was in the middle of a heated debate in the Republican-led Arizona Senate over a bill to repeal an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions.
Democrats needed at least one more vote from the right to move the project forward.
Bolick, head down and stumbling over her words, described her three difficult pregnancies, including one that ended in miscarriage. She said she wouldn’t have gotten through it “without my husband’s moral support.”
Her husband, Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, was part of the majority that voted in April to restore the near-total ban.
Observers in the gallery jeered when the senator declared herself “pro-life.” Only in the final moments of her speech did her intention become clear.
“I’m here to protect more babies,” she said. “I vote yes.”
The bill passed and a day later, May 2, Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs signed it into law.
Shawnna Bolick’s vote to repeal the near-total ban that her spouse helped reinstate underscores the increasingly chaotic philosophical and legal landscape surrounding abortion access in Arizona and reflects national Republicans’ struggle to navigate abortion politics during a year of presidential elections.
This could spell trouble for the judge and senator. Both declined interview requests from the Associated Press.
Shawnna and Clint Bolick met in Washington at an event organized by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. They are long-time friends of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas – godfather of one of Clint Bolick’s children – and his conservative political activist wife, Ginni.
Clarence Thomas was part of the majority that overturned Roe v. Wade. Wade in 2022 – something he has sought for more than 30 years – and has also lobbied his colleagues to reverse decisions protecting same-sex marriage, gay sex and the use of contraceptives.
After the 2020 presidential election, Ginni Thomas sent emails urging Republican lawmakers in Arizona — including Shawnna Bolick — to choose their own electors to undo Joe Biden’s victory in the state. Bolick, then a state representative, introduced a bill the following year to rewrite Arizona election laws to give state lawmakers the power to reject election results “at any time prior to the presidential inauguration.” Her proposal died before being voted on.
Their conservative credentials have not shielded them from criticism as Clint Bolick seeks another six-year term on the court, and his wife, who was appointed last year to represent her north Phoenix district, faces a July 30 primary challenge.
After the high court published its ruling, calls quickly emerged from the right to revoke the near-total ban. On social media, U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, a Republican, said the court “legislated from the bench.” Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said the court’s decision did not reflect “the will of the people.”
A progressive group has also launched a campaign targeting Justices Bolick and Kathryn King — both of whom voted to restore the 160-year-old abortion ban and are running in retention elections in November.
“Arizonans have a constitutional right to hold judges and justices accountable,” said Abigail Jackson, digital coordinator at Progress Arizona. “So we want Arizonans to know that these two judges in particular will be on the ballot in November and direct some of their energy toward removing them.”
Voters rarely deny a sitting judge another term; only six have been removed since Arizona adopted its judicial retention election system in 1974.
Democrats, meanwhile, have placed the abortion decision at the center of their quest to take control of the state Legislature for the first time in decades. Senator Bolick, representing one of the most competitive districts in the state, is among his top targets.
Bolick appeared to argue on the floor that a repeal would protect against extreme ballot initiatives to enshrine the right to abortion, saying he wanted to “protect our state constitution from unlimited abortions.”
But the Center for Arizona Policy, an anti-abortion advocacy group, criticized her vote for repeal, saying she “voted with pro-abortion activist legislators.”
Some Republican colleagues agreed.
“She confused the pro-life community,” Senator Jake Hoffman said on the floor after the vote. “Make no mistake, for everyone watching and listening to my voice right now, and everyone who will listen, she voted for abortion.”
The repeal bill will not take effect until 90 days after the end of the state’s legislative session, typically in June or July. Meanwhile, the Civil War-era ban could be enforced, but the high court on Monday issued a stay on its decision, establishing a 2022 law banning abortions after 15 weeks of Arizona’s current abortion law.
But the legal landscape could change once again if Arizona voters approve a ballot measure in November to enshrine access to abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in the state constitution. Organizers say they will submit more than enough signatures by the July 3 deadline.
___
Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writers Jonathan J. Cooper and Anita Snow in Phoenix contributed to this report.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
