Kari Lake, a Republican running for the Senate, can’t seem to decide. As she stated on the campaign trail in 2022, does she think that Arizona’s complete ban on abortion, which dates back to the Civil War, is a “great law” and that abortion is “the ultimate sin”?
Or, as she emphasized in a recent campaign ad, does she believe that every woman should have “choices” when she becomes pregnant?
Following a ruling by the state Supreme Court upholding the 1864 legislation, which forbids abortions for any reason other than motherhood preservation at any stage of pregnancy, Lake first released a statement stating that it was “obviously clear that the pre-statehood law is out of step with Arizonans’ views on abortion.”
“To come up with an immediate common sense solution,” she urged state officials.
An offer had already been made by Attorney General Kris Mayes (D). The chief law enforcement official in the state declared that her department will not uphold the prohibition, which will revert to force in June. According to the law, the penalty for someone who “provides, supplies, or administers” an abortion is up to five years in prison.
However, Lake proposed last weekend that county sheriffs uphold the 1684 abortion ban: “We can have that law, but with the people we have in office, it’s not going to be enforced,” Lake allegedly said to the assembled supporters of the Mohave County Republican Party.
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Our sheriffs are the only ones who are authorized to enforce that law. And if the sheriffs are willing to enforce that, we need to start asking them. No, I don’t believe they are. The Copper Courier was the first to report on the remarks.
At least one county attorney has indicated an interest in pursuing cases under the 1864 statute in the interim. Furthermore, some sheriffs in Arizona would surely be happy to respond to Lake’s most recent request.
According to the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, the state has turned into “ground zero” for the movement known as “constitutional sheriffs,” whose supporters are already getting used to selectively enforcing laws.
The movement, with which over half of the state’s sheriffs have allied, is based on “a radical ideology that the sheriff’s power within his or her county is guided by the sheriff’s interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and is superseded by no state or federal government entity,” according to ACIR.
A fundamental component of the philosophy is nullification, or declining to uphold laws or orders that a sheriff determines to be unconstitutional.
Mike Flynn, Patrick Byrne, and Mike Lindell—all close associates of President Trump—spoke during a training event held by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association earlier this week in Las Vegas.
Lake warned the audience at the same gathering that “they’re going to come after us with everything.” Because of this, the upcoming six months will be very demanding. She continued by saying that followers should “strap on” a “helmet,” a “seatbelt,” and “the armor of God,” and that they should “maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case.”
