In a significant move, the Arizona Senate has successfully introduced a bill aimed at repealing the state’s 160-year-old abortion ban. This development comes after a similar effort failed to progress in the Republican-dominated House of Representatives.
The Senate initiative was salvaged through the support of two Republican state Senators, T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, who sided with the Democrats in the GOP-majority chamber. This bipartisan collaboration allowed the bill to proceed with a narrow 16 to 14 vote.
Despite being introduced after the legislature’s standard deadline, necessitating a special vote, the bill must now navigate the full legislative process in the Senate. This includes a mandatory three-day consideration period before a final vote and a potential move to the House.
The state’s political landscape was recently shaken when the Arizona Supreme Court revived the Civil War-era law. The court stated that the 2022 US Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade left no obstacles to enforcing the state law. This has led to unsuccessful attempts by the Arizona legislature to repeal the ban, causing frustration among abortion rights activists, Democrats, and GOP candidates in competitive races who are trying to distance themselves from the court’s decision.
High-profile Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and US Senate candidate Kari Lake, have urged the GOP-controlled legislature to collaborate with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs to pursue a more moderate approach.
Earlier on Wednesday, the state House declined to discuss a bill to repeal Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban after two attempts. The vote was evenly split among representatives, with the chair casting the tie-breaking vote. The bill was not brought up for a vote.
House Speaker Ben Toma argued during the debate, “The last thing we should be doing today is rushing a bill through the legislative process to repeal a law that has been enacted and affirmed by the legislature several times.”
If the 1864 law is repealed, Arizona would revert to a 15-week abortion restriction, a law signed in 2022 by then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican. The state court has delayed the ban’s enforcement for at least 14 days to allow plaintiffs to challenge it, meaning abortions are still permitted in the state.
The ban only allows abortions to save the life of the pregnant person and threatens providers with prison sentences between two and five years. If the 1864 law is enacted, Arizona would join 14 other states that have passed near-total abortion bans, some without exceptions for victims of rape or incest.