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However, it’s possible the near-total ban will briefly take effect this summer even if it’s repealed.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.
On April 9, the Arizona supreme court reinstated the almost-complete abortion ban to the criticism of Democrats and even some Republicans such as former president Donald Trump and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, both of whom have advocated for a more moderate approach to the abortion issue.
In recent weeks, Trump called on states to establish their own abortion restrictions rather than endorse a federal 15-week ban. Lake initially agreed with Trump that there should be exceptions for rape and incest, as well as saving the life of a mother. (Both the 2022 and 1864 laws do not provide exceptions for rape or incest.) However, she flipped on her critical comments over the weekend, expressing disappointment that the 1864 law is not being enforced in the state.
The ruling from the state’s highest court came nearly two years after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Wednesday’s passage of the repeal in the Arizona house was met with praise from the White House, whose press secretary called the vote a “good thing.” Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We’re moving forward in the right direction.”
Prior to the vote, Arizona house speaker Ben Toma, a Republican, urged his fellow lawmakers to slow down and not rush the repeal bill through the legislature. Republican state representatives Matt Gress, Tim Dunn, and Justin Wilmeth did not heed the speaker’s plea. Gress was stripped of a committee assignment for his vote in favor of the repeal.