So, yesterday, the news was full of stories like this one from Axios (“Republicans rush to distance from ‘”‘disaster’ Arizona abortion ruling“):
Republican lawmakers and candidates for Congress are scrambling to create distance between themselves and an Arizona Supreme Court ruling on Tuesday upholding a near-total ban on abortion in the state.
[…]
Driving the news: The Arizona court, which is composed entirely of Republican-appointed justices, ruled 4-2 that an 1864 law making it a felony to perform an abortion supersedes the 15-week ban state legislators passed in 2022.
- The 19th-century law provides exceptions only to save the life of the mother.
What they’re saying: Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.), who represents a seat President Biden won in 2020, called the ruling a “disaster for women and providers” in a statement posted to social media.
- Ciscomani said the 15-week ban “protected the rights of women and new life,” but the territorial law is “archaic.”
- Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.), another Biden-district Republican, said the issue “should be decided by Arizonans, not legislated from the bench,” urging the state legislature to “address this issue immediately.”
- Kelly Cooper, a Republican running to challenge Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.), called for the state legislature to “begin work immediately on reinstating” the 15-week ban.
Zoom out: It’s not just Arizonans weighing in to voice disagreement. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said she was “appalled” by the “Draconian” ruling, telling Axios: “Hard pass.”
- “This is an awful ruling,” said Biden-district Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.). “I care about the difficult choice women have to make, said I would reject a national abortion ban, and kept my word.”
Zoom in: Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Axios he’s “counseled our members … [to] explain to your constituents what your abortion position is.”
- He added: “Democrats are spending a lot of energy and money lying about our positions, and I think in that case if you disagree with any ruling, you ought to be vocal about it.”
- A GOP strategist working on House races told Axios, “Republicans have been crystal clear where they stand, and they must continue to articulate their commonsense position.”
For those who hadn’t been paying attention, the Dobbs decision meant that the states were suddenly back in control of abortion policy for the first time in half a century and several states, including Arizona, had some very old laws on the books. (Although, in Arizona’s case, the 1864 law was actually reiterated in a 1973 law just after Roe‘s passage.) Arizona quickly passed a new law in the aftermath of Dobbs, but the Arizona Supremes ruled that, for highly technical reasons of statutory interpretation, the new law didn’t supersede the old one.
To the extent that the old law was a problem and Arizona Republicans wanted to replace a near-total ban with a ban after 15 weeks, the solution was quite simple: pass yet another law clarifying that contravening laws were hereby repealed. Easy. Peasy.
So, I wake up this morning to this from the NYT (“Arizona Republicans Thwart Attempts to Repeal 1864 Abortion Ban“):
A decision by Arizona’s highest court upholding an 1864 ban on nearly all abortions created chaos and confusion across the state on Wednesday. As abortion providers were flooded with phone calls from frantic patients, Republican lawmakers at the State Capitol blocked efforts to undo the ban, prompting angry jeers from Democrats.
Democrats, who seized on the decision to resurrect the 160-year-old ban as a pivotal election issue, tried to push bills through the Republican-controlled Legislature to repeal the ban, a move they said would protect women’s health and freedom, and also force Republicans to take a formal vote on the law.
But Republican leaders in the Senate removed one bill from the day’s agenda on Wednesday, legislative aides said. In the House, a Republican lawmaker who had called for striking down the law made a motion to vote on a Democratic repeal bill that has sat stalled for months. But Republican leaders quickly scuttled that effort by calling for a recess, and later adjourned until next Wednesday.
Democrats on the Senate floor yelled “Shame!” and “Save women’s lives!” as their Republican colleagues filed out of the chamber.
“I don’t see why we wouldn’t move forward,” said State Senator Anna Hernandez, Democrat of Phoenix. “Are they serious about this or are they not?” she said of the Republicans. “Are they just backpedaling when they realize they’re on the losing side of a policy battle?”
Despite the pressure from Democrats and some Republicans to undo the law, it was uncertain whether Republican leaders, who narrowly control both chambers of the Legislature, would allow any immediate action on proposals to repeal the ban.
Representative Teresa Martinez, a Republican and abortion opponent, criticized Democrats for trying to force a vote a day after the court’s ruling. She called their chants and shouts extremist and insurrectionist behavior.
“We do not want to repeal the pre-Roe law without first having a conversation about it,” she said in a floor speech. “There is no reason to rush on this very important topic. We must listen to all viewpoints thoroughly. We cannot do that when our colleagues are acting in the way they did this morning.”
The Senate president and House speaker, both Republicans, issued a joint statement emphasizing that the court’s ruling had not yet taken effect and probably would not for weeks, as the legal fight over the 1864 law heads back to a lower court for additional arguments over its constitutionality.
Sigh.
While the 15-week ban is controversial, it’s in line with policy throughout the developed world. Only 4% of abortions in this country (and 4.8% in Arizona) come after that point in the pregnancy. Indeed, 93.1% nationally (and 91.2% in Arizona) come by the 13th week. Essentially no one supports a complete ban, let alone one with draconian punishments for women. Yet these idiots can’t get out of their own way.
