Arizona legislators showcase resistance to 1864 abortion ban News
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Arizona legislators showcase resistance to 1864 abortion ban

The Arizona House of Representatives erupted into chants of “shame” on Wednesday after Republican members voted to adjourn instead of discussing a bill that would repeal the state’s 1864 abortion ban. The state’s Supreme Court ruled this week that the Civil War-era law could go into effect, setting off a heated debate in the southwestern US state.

Amidst calls for legislative action, Republican Representative Matt Gress tried to initiative a vote to discuss a bill that would repeal the total ban on abortion. Instead, legislative leaders moved to adjourn the house until next week over the objections of Democratic members, who chanted “shame” and said that the lack of action would lead to women dying. All Democrats in the chamber voted against adjourning, joined by Gress.

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, said it was “unconscionable” that the legislature would choose to adjourn instead of addressing the state’s abortion ban. “The extremist Republican majority had the chance to do the right thing for their constituents, and they failed,” she said. “As they have time and again, radical legislators protected a Civil War-era total abortion ban that jails doctors, strips women of our bodily autonomy and puts our lives at risk.” Hobbs stressed that she will work to protect abortion access in Arizona, pointing to an Executive Order she signed in 2023, and that her “heart is with every single woman who is now questioning if it is safe for them to start a family.”

Speaker Ben Toma defended the decision to adjourn in a statement, saying that the court’s 47-page ruling had been released the day before and legislators needed time to “carefully consider appropriate actions” on a “very emotionally charged, complicated issue.” He said that “many Arizonans and legislators fundamentally and ethically have firm beliefs” about abortion and that this necessitates consulting with constituents before moving forward. Toma also called Democrats’ position on abortion “extreme” and described their chants of “shame” as “appallingly childish behavior.”

The 1864 law in question was part of the Howell Code, a set of laws passed before Arizona was admitted as a state, when it was still a territory. It bans abortion in nearly every situation, containing only narrow exceptions for the life of the mother. It does not include exceptions for rape or incest. The law also includes provisions allowing for the prosecution of physicians and doctors that perform abortions.

The state Supreme Court’s decision to uphold this law catalyzed panic at Arizona’s abortion providers, with Dr. Jill Gibson, chief medical director of Planned Parenthood Arizona, describing “chaos and confusion” among patients. Planned Parenthood Arizona stressed in a statement that the law would not going into effect for at least 45 days, and Dr. Ronald Yunis from the Acacia Women’s Center in Phoenix told NBC that his clinic will continue to provide abortion care “until the attorneys say it can’t be done.” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said that her office will not prosecute people under the 1864 ban, but acknowledged the law will still have a chilling effect.

These developments in Arizona come as states continue to grapple with the fallout of the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal right to an abortion. In Florida, the state Supreme Court recently ruled that a six-week ban on abortion could go into effect. It also approved a referendum for November’s ballot that, if approved, would enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution. Abortion rights advocates are working to put similar measures on the ballots in numerous states in 2024, after successful efforts in states like Ohio.

Organizers in Arizona recently announced that they collected more than 500,000 signatures to put a measure on the ballot codifying abortion rights in the state’s constitution, which is more than required. “This is an issue that people are eager to see on the ballot,” said Cheryl Bruce, campaign manager for Arizona for Abortion Access. “They want to see access to abortion restored in the state of Arizona.”

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