Democrats on Tuesday accepted the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to uphold an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, creating a fierce battle over the issue that is likely to decide the presidential election and the pivotal Senate race in a key battleground state. waged a political battle.
Although the court has put the decision on hold for now, President Biden and his campaign quickly criticized former President Donald J. Trump for eliminating abortion rights and credited Trump with appointing Supreme Court justices who overturned the Constitution. He pointed out that. right to abortion. Just the day before, Mr. Trump had sought to quell what has become a toxic issue for Republicans, saying abortion restrictions should be decided by each state and its voters.
Trump had no immediate reaction to the decision, but campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt said: These are decisions made by the people of each state. ”
Nowhere is the politics of abortion more simmering than in Arizona. In Arizona, liberal advocates are pushing a November ballot measure that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. Supporters of the bill say they have already collected enough signatures to put the question on the ballot ahead of an early July deadline.
That means the state is likely to be at the center of a national push by Democrats to turn the 2024 election into a new referendum on abortion rights.
Since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022, the issue has emerged as one of the party’s most powerful political weapons, helping it win a series of elections. Tuesday’s Arizona ruling comes after decades of efforts to restrict abortion rights and access, a state that has struggled to find a winning message on the issue amid the transformation of post-law era politics. It will be another test for Republicans.
The Act of 1864 does not take effect immediately. In suspending its decision, the court referred the matter back to the lower court to hear additional arguments regarding the law’s constitutionality.
Still, Democrats quickly sought to capitalize on the news.
“This ruling is the result of the extreme agenda of Republican lawmakers who are dedicated to taking away women’s freedoms,” President Biden said in a statement minutes after the ruling.
Vice President Kamala Harris was also scheduled to travel to Tucson, Arizona, on Friday to speak about the importance of abortion rights, a trip that coincidentally was pre-planned, a spokeswoman said. . She became the Biden campaign’s chief messenger on abortion and the highest-ranking U.S. government official to visit an abortion clinic. She has also held abortion events in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Georgia, and Michigan.
On Tuesday, she squarely criticized Trump for the court’s decision. This is a tactic Democrats have used against abortion across the country.
“Arizona just turned back the clock to a time before women could vote, and by Arizona’s own admission, the man in charge is one man, Donald Trump,” she said in a statement. Ta.
Condemnation of the ruling was bipartisan, reflecting the continued influence of the issue since Roe’s ouster in 2022. Both candidates in the Arizona Senate race, considered one of the most important races for control of the chamber, quickly repudiated the ruling. .
Democratic candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego called it “devastating for Arizona women and their families” and warned that “women could die” as a result of the new ban.
Even more surprisingly, his Republican opponent, Kari Lake, echoed his comments, even though she has praised the law in the past.
“It is clear that the pre-state law does not align with the views of Arizonans,” he said in a statement. “This is a deeply personal issue that should be decided by each state and its people.” added.
Democrats quickly criticized Lake’s past examples of support, including comments in which he called 19th-century laws “great laws.”
Polls show that Mr. Biden has a clear advantage over Mr. Trump on abortion, even though voters support the former president on almost every other major issue. The political calculation for Biden and other Democrats is that every day that abortion is a major political topic is a better day than one spent debating the economy, immigration, or thorny foreign policy issues. That’s true.
Since Roe’s ouster, Democrats have repeatedly won elections by making abortion a major campaign issue. Last year, a liberal justice won a landslide victory in a key Supreme Court race in Wisconsin, and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear won re-election in the deep red state, both on the back of a focus on abortion rights. .
Biden’s campaign sees abortion rights as one of the strongest issues in its favor in Arizona, where independents make up about a third of voters. In March, 50% of registered voters in the state said they trusted Biden to “do a better job” on abortion, compared to 44% for Trump, according to a Fox News poll. was.
“There are people from all walks of life who are outraged by this decision and want to hold accountable the person who brags about being responsible for this decision,” said Jen Cox, a senior adviser to the Biden campaign in Arizona. “And that’s Donald Trump.”
Abortion providers said they expect to continue performing abortions through May as lawyers and Democratic lawmakers explore new legal arguments and additional tactics to delay the ruling.
If reinstated, the law would preempt the state’s current restrictions on abortions after 15 weeks and ban the procedure entirely from the moment of conception, unless necessary to save the mother’s life. . The 1864 law does not include exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors charged under the law could be fined and sentenced to two to five years in prison.
Anti-abortion movement leaders hailed the ruling as a major step forward.
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the prominent anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, hailed the ruling as a “huge victory for unborn children and their mothers,” and said her movement “must keep fighting.” No,” he said.
However, they mainly supported the ruling alone. Some Arizona Republicans facing tough re-election battles criticized the decision despite their past opposition to abortion rights.
Congressman Juan Siscomani, who said in 2022 that abortion laws should be left up to each state, called the ruling “a disaster for women and health care providers.” Additionally, U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, who previously expressed support for Roe’s reversal and abortion ban, tweeted on social media, “This issue should be decided by Arizonans and legislated in the courts.” You shouldn’t,” he wrote.
Still, the Arizona decision highlighted the political limits of Republican efforts to sidestep specific questions about the future of abortion access in more conservative states.
In his remarks Monday, Trump supported exceptions for rape, incest and maternal life, but did not comment on whether bans in states that do not include these caveats, such as Arizona’s, should remain. .
Report contributor: Ruth Igielnik, jack healy, Annie Carni, Kellen Browning and michael gold.
