Arizona Republicans block repeal of 1864 abortion ban for second time
Arizona statehouse Republicans blocked an effort on Wednesday to repeal an 1864 abortion ban for the second time.
The block of the repeal comes despite several major Republicans in and out of the state, such as former President Donald Trump, having called for a more moderate solution.
Many voters, including some who back the Republicans, see the law as antiquated and an extreme effort to restrict the rights of women.
But the Republican Speaker of the Arizona statehouse, Ben Toma, said on Wednesday that “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 reaffirmed by the Legislature several times,” according to The New York Times.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled last week to uphold the abortion ban – a repeal by the legislature would mean that Arizona would return to a ban after 15 weeks. The current ban only allows abortions to save the life of the mother. Doctors facing prosecution for performing abortions could be fined or sent to prison for between two and five years.
Top Republicans, such as Mr Trump and failed 2022 gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who’s now running for the US Senate, pushed for the legislature to take action to revert the ban.
When Democratic State Representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton brought forward a bill to repeal the ban on Wednesday, the Republicans blocked it on procedural grounds.
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