In a stunning turn of events, the Arizona Supreme Court has ordered the implementation of a 160-year-old law, effectively reviving a Civil War-era abortion ban. This decision contradicts former President Donald Trump’s assertion that he had largely removed the issue of abortion from the 2024 election discourse.
The court’s ruling, which allows for a single exception to save the life of a pregnant individual, has opened a significant opportunity for Democrats in a state that could potentially determine the outcome of the presidential election and the future of the Senate.
The ruling is the latest in a series of stringent court decisions and conservative state legislature actions following the US Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of a constitutional right to abortion. This represents a significant victory for anti-abortion activists, but it also threatens to create another swath of the United States where abortion services are unavailable.
For Trump, the timing of the ruling is particularly conspicuous. On Monday, the presumptive Republican nominee attempted to neutralize the abortion issue, one of his greatest vulnerabilities as he seeks a return to the White House. His stance, which would leave all abortion policy decisions to the states, seemed designed to give the impression that he opposes a federal ban on abortion. However, he had previously publicly entertained the idea of a 15-week abortion ban.
The Biden campaign criticized some reporters for taking Trump’s words at face value and pointed out that he did not specifically oppose an abortion ban. If the situation in Arizona is indicative of what happens when abortion is left to the states, Trump’s damage control efforts appear even more fragile than they seemed on Monday.
For abortion rights advocates, the Arizona decision is symptomatic of nationwide chaos and fragmented rights caused by the overturning of Roe v. Wade. They argue that Trump is to blame, as he proudly claimed responsibility for the end of the nationwide constitutional right to abortion through the conservative majority he established on the US Supreme Court.
Trump, aware of the shifting political winds, understands that an election focused on abortion could jeopardize his hopes of a second term. His strategy of leaving the decision to the states seems to be an attempt to occupy the most defensible political ground, even though he remains deeply vulnerable on the issue.
Democrats are seizing this opportunity to highlight Trump’s discomfort. Vice President Kamala Harris used Trump’s own words against him, stating, “Arizona just rolled back the clock to a time before women could vote – and, by his own admission, there’s one person responsible: Donald Trump.”
The Biden campaign recently launched a powerful ad highlighting the plight of a Texas woman who nearly died from infections and may not be able to get pregnant again because she was denied treatment after a miscarriage under the state’s restrictive new abortion law. The ad ends with a stark message: “Donald Trump did this.”
Trump’s claim that he has taken the abortion issue “largely out of play” is unlikely to hold up, especially as Democrats believe they have him cornered on an issue that could help them win the election. The Supreme Court’s decision to return abortion to the states has not led to quiet acceptance but rather nationwide chaos.
Anti-abortion rights campaigners are moving to the next stage of their battle, seeking to eradicate abortion entirely in many cases. Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates are capitalizing on the liberal movement’s greatest failure in decades – the overturning of Roe v. Wade – believing they have an issue that can drive women, suburban, and young voters to the polls despite widespread disappointment with Biden.
Arizona’s law, dating back to as early as 1864, carries a prison sentence of two to five years for abortion providers. This puts Arizona among the states with the strictest abortion laws in the country, alongside Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi, where bans exist with almost no exceptions.
Top Republicans in the state have quickly spoken out against the ruling, in some cases even repudiating their earlier support for abortion bans. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs stated that the court decision was a sign that “the fight for our reproductive freedoms is far from over.”
This story will continue to be updated with additional reactions.