Lawmakers in the Arizona house on Wednesday voted to repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban after the law was upheld by the state supreme court earlier this month.
The Arizona house passed the repeal bill by a 32–28 margin, with three Republican state representatives joining state Democrats in voting for the measure. The latest vote, which was the third attempt to pass a repeal, ended a weekslong stalemate in the Arizona legislature between Republicans and Democrats. The bill now heads to the Arizona senate, where lawmakers are expected to vote on it next Wednesday.
Once it passes both chambers, Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, will likely sign the measure into law. If so, the repeal would effectively reinstate a 2022 law banning abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy in place of the 1864 ban.
However, it’s possible the near-total ban will briefly take effect this summer even if it’s repealed. The preexisting law could go into effect as early as June 8, but Arizona attorney general Kris Mayes said she would “fight like hell” to prevent that outcome.
Hobbs, a vocal supporter of abortion, has urged lawmakers to pass a potential repeal and criticized “Republican extremists” in the house for blocking the previous two repeal attempts of the 1864 abortion ban, which her office has called“draconian.” The 19th-century law bans almost all abortions in Arizona, excluding those performed to save the life of the mother. The law also imposes between two to five years in prison for physicians who perform an abortion or help a woman obtain one.
Both Hobbs and Mayes said they would not enforce it nor prosecute doctors who perform abortion procedures.
Read the full story at National Review.
