The Arizona House of Representatives approved a bill on April 24 to remove the state’s strict abortion prohibition. The vote comes two weeks after a judge ruled that the state could enforce the 1864 legislation, which contains an exemption only for cases in which the mother’s life is in danger.
On the day of the vote, three Republicans joined all 29 Democrats in repealing that legislation, which does not include any exceptions for rape or incest and was passed before Arizona became a state.
The Republicans in the battleground state House were under increasing pressure for weeks leading up to the vote to override the GOP House speaker, who has continued to oppose the repeal.
President Joe Biden has made his support for abortion central in his reelection campaign, and each time Republicans have leaned on checks and balances to defeat prior repeal efforts, the president has weighed in to support repealing the law.
On April 24, Democrats and the Biden campaign convened a news conference to maintain their pressure on Republicans and former President Trump for the severe restrictions on abortion.
“Make no mistake, Arizonans are living in 1864 now because Donald Trump dismantled Roe v. Wade,” Democratic state Sen. Priya Sundareshan of Tucson said.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the Arizona House’s decision, saying that keeping the law in place would have “hurt women.”
She went on to assert that the state is “moving forward in the right direction,” and the Biden administration’s belief that in 2024, “we should be protecting our freedom [and] a woman’s right to make her own personal decision.”
Biden–Harris Campaign Visit
Shortly after the state Supreme Court’s April 8 decision to uphold the pro-life law, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at a pro-abortion rally in Tuscon, Arizona, on April 12.Ms. Harris spoke at the “reproductive freedom” rally about the court ruling, calling it “one of the biggest aftershocks yet” since the 2022 overturning of the 1973 Supreme Court ruling on Roe v. Wade.
“Here in Arizona, they have turned back the clock to the 1800s to take away a woman’s most fundamental right, the right to make decisions about her own body. ... What has happened here in Arizona is a new inflection point,” she said. “It has demonstrated, once and for all, that overturning Roe was just the opening act.
“We all must understand who is to blame: Former President Donald Trump.”
Starting in January, Ms. Harris has been traveling around the nation on a “reproductive freedoms” tour, claiming that the outcome of the election will determine the fate of abortion access.
Ms. Harris’s campaign has prioritized the abortion issue, asserting that the vice president is in a unique position to take the lead on this issue. The matter has occupied the vice president’s attention since 2021. She has also made history by visiting a Planned Parenthood clinic in Minnesota while on the campaign trail. She is now the highest-level government official to make a political stop at the abortion business.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
