In an interview with an Idaho media source, Republican candidate for Arizona Senate Kari Lake expressed displeasure that her state’s 1864 law outlawing almost all abortions is not being implemented, reversing remarks she made earlier this month that the revived proposal went too far.
“The Arizona Supreme Court said this is the law of Arizona. But unfortunately, the people running our state have said we’re not going to enforce it,” Lake said in a Saturday video interview with the Idaho Dispatch.
“We don’t have that law, as much as many of us wish we did,” she continued.
Questions concerning Lake’s remarks, which were made in response to criticism from the anti-abortion organization Idaho Chooses Life, were not immediately answered by the campaign.
Earlier this month, the Arizona Supreme Court maintained a Civil War-era statute that prohibits almost all abortions in the state save those performed to save the mother’s life. Doctors who conduct abortions are also subject to jail time under the statute.
Attorney General Kris Mayes and Governor Katie Hobbs both declared they would not enforce it and would not bring charges against providers.
Related:
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The law’s earliest possible implementation date is June 8, and Mayes stated in a recent letter to physicians and hospitals that her office is investigating “all legal options available” to keep it from happening.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (I) seat is being filled by Lake, a candidate who has oscillated in her support of the 1864 proposal. When she was a candidate for Arizona governor in 2022, she referred to it as a “great law.”
However, Lake had a different opinion following the decision.
In a video uploaded to the social media site X on April 11, she declared, “This total ban on abortion that the Arizona Supreme Court has ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are.”
“I agree with President Trump, we must have exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of a mother,” she stated.
According to reports, Lake has been personally pleading with Republican legislators in Arizona to lift the restriction, which would return the state to its 2022 abortion prohibition after 15 weeks.
The 15-week prohibition does not have any exceptions for rape or incest, same like the 1864 legislation.