On Thursday, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs signed legislation repealing a long-standing, nearly complete prohibition on abortions, which had been brought back to life by the state Supreme Court and sparked intense discussion and controversy.
At the ceremony, she was accompanied by state lawmakers and proponents of abortion access. “While I’m proud to sign this bill and provide a moment of relief for Arizonans, we still have work to do,” she said.
The impending reactivation of the 1864 stringent abortion legislation will be reversed with Hobbs’ signature, though not right away.
Rather, the new repeal statute cannot be applied to the ban until ninety days after the Arizona Legislature adjourns its session by the end of June. The prohibition was declared enforceable by the Arizona Supreme Court last month due to the possibility of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.
But according to Arizona’s attorney general, the Civil War-era law, which outlaws almost all abortions save for those performed on women whose lives are in danger, is scheduled to go into force on June 27.
Earlier this week, Democratic leader Hobbs expressed her “hopeful” that the legislative adjournment will occur within “the next few weeks.” The 1864 ban would then become operative for a period of two or three months due to the three-month clock on the repeal taking effect.
In an interview with reporters on Thursday, Hobbs declared, “I’m going to fight as hard as I can to make sure that this ban never goes into effect.”
Planned Parenthood submitted a similar appeal on Wednesday, using the legal theory known as “legislative deference,” which it claims the court employed to support its decision to reinstate the ban.
An advocacy group for women’s health claims that after the Legislature voted a repeal and some Republicans joined the Democratic minority in the statehouse, it should submit to its will.
Following the revocation of the 1864 ban, the state will enact a different 15-week ban that likewise forbids rape or incest.
Proponents of abortion rights stated that they would not be content with this result.
Read Also: Kari Lake Pushes for Enforcement of 1864 Abortion Ban by Arizona Sheriffs
During the question-and-answer period on Thursday, Hobbs was asked what she would say to voters who support the ballot measure to incorporate the Roe provisions into the state Constitution but disagree with the 15-week limit. The state bans, in her words, are “draconian.”
“The 15-week ban has no exception for rape or incest or regard for the complications of pregnancy. And Arizonans are going to have a chance to have their say in that,” she stated. “But I think the experience that we just went through in the few weeks since the court ruling is exactly why we should not have government involved in these decisions at all.”
Hobbs also denounced the Republicans for their “political opportunism,” arguing that they had sided with Democrats in the Legislature to pass the repeal.
Many Republican lawmakers in Arizona voiced their vehement opposition to the repeal campaign, stating that they believed abortion to be the same as murder.
This week, when voting against repeal, state senator Jake Hoffman declared that, “What’s happening right here … is Republicans are abandoning the Founding Fathers’ principles or Republican Party platforms and principles to join with Democrats. … It is disgusting that is the state of the Republican Party today.”
Nonetheless, a few of prominent anti-abortion Republicans, such as Donald Trump, claimed the 1864 prohibition went too far.
