Arizona Senate passes repeal of 1864 abortion ban

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The Arizona Senate passed a repeal of the state’s near-total ban on abortion on Wednesday, capping a weekslong legislative scramble to respond to the state Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling that upheld the law from 1864. The bill, which the state House approved last week, will soon head to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. Hobbs said she expects to sign the bill as early as Wednesday night. Two state Senate Republicans — Shawnna Bolick and T.J. Shope — joined all 14 Democrats in the narrowly divided chamber in approving a repeal of the Civil War-era law that held the power to send a doctor to prison for providing nearly any kind of abortion care. With the support of those two Republican senators, Democrats in the chamber quickly overcame procedural hurdles and swiftly moved to vote. Bolick, in a lengthy and nuanced speech ahead of casting her pivotal vote, told several emotional stories of women who experienced major complications during pregnancy and needed care that would likely be restricted under the 1864 law — while also making clear her opposition to reproductive health groups and abortion providers like Planned Parenthood. Bolick concluded her 21-minute speech, which was interrupted by lawmakers and protesters several times, by revealing all of the pregnancies she spoke of were her own. "Would Arizona's pre-Roe law have allowed me this medical procedure even though at the time my life was not in danger?" Bolick asked rhetorically at one point. She was referring to a dilation and curettage procedure she needed during the first trimester of a non-viable pregnancy she experienced. "Having a 'D and C' in my first trimester because the baby wasn't viable was very tough," Bolick said. Abortion rights groups lauded the action in the Arizona Legislature, while President Joe Bide's campaign pinned blame on the broader reproductive rights landscape in the state on former President Donald Trump, whose appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court resulted in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. "While Arizona Democrats have worked to clean up the devastating mess created by Trump and his extremist allies, the state’s existing ban, with no exception for rape or incest, remains in effect," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement released by the Biden re-election campaign. Despite the heavy anticipation ahead of Wednesday's session, Democrats were expected to have the support they needed in the GOP-controlled Senate to pass the repeal. Earlier this month, members of the state Senate voted in favor of a motion to introduce a repeal bill after those two Republicans joined every Democrat in the chamber on that vote. Republican opponents of the repeal delivered their own speeches explaining their votes Wednesday. State Sen. Anthony Kern called the 1864 law "the best abortion ban in the nation" and likened Bolick and Shope to Nazi officers who sent Jewish citizens to different fates. "We have two Republicans voting with the Democrats to repeal an abortion ban, while saying, 'I'm pro-life,'" Kern said. "That's kind of like Nazi Germany where the Nazis said, 'Jews, you have something wrong with you, you go to the death chamber. You, Jews, can live and work the fields. It's wrong.'" Wednesday's state Senate session came one week after the state House voted to repeal the ban on its third attempt in as many weeks. Three Republicans joined 29 Democrats in that vote in the narrowly divided chamber, giving the measure enough support to advance. Passage of the bill by both chambers, however, does not guarantee that a repeal of the abortion law will quickly go into effect. First, the bill would still must go to Hobbs, who has said she will sign it, though Republicans in either chamber could potentially delay getting the bill to her office. In an interview with NBC News after the Senate passed the repeal, Hobbs said, "I will sign it as soon as I get it" and that her office was expecting the Legislature to transmit the bill later Wednesday. However, under the Arizona state Constitution, repeals of laws don’t go into effect until 90 days after a legislative session concludes. Arizona doesn’t have a fixed legislative calendar, meaning Republicans could keep the session open with the intent to further delay the implementation of a repeal. Last year’s session ended in late July, so if this year’s session ended at a similar time, the repeal would not occur until late October or early November. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said Tuesday that the 1864 ban would go into effect on June 27 — not June 8 as her office initially said — citing her office’s interpretation of state Supreme Court procedural rules. As a result, the ban is likely to go into effect for a period of time, even though both chambers have now passed a repeal. Mayes said Wednesday that her office was still "exploring every option available to prevent" the law "from ever taking effect.” In addition, Planned Parenthood Arizona filed a motion Wednesday afternoon, following the Senate vote, seeking an order from the state Supreme Court that would delay implementation of its ruling until after the repeal takes effect — an action that, if granted, would effectively prevent the ban from being reinstated. Wednesday’s state Senate session is the latest chapter in the fight over abortion rights in the crucial battleground following the Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling last month. The conservative-leaning court ruled that a law making abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs one or helps a woman obtain one is enforceable. The law was codified in 1901 — and again in 1913, after Arizona gained statehood — and outlaws abortion from the moment of conception but includes an exception to save the woman’s life. A fully implemented repeal of the 1864 ban would likely result in state policy reverting to a 15-week ban on abortions passed in 2022 that makes exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest. The continuing saga has raised the stakes around a constitutional amendment that is all but certain to appear on the Arizona ballot this November that would allow voters themselves to decide on the future of abortion rights in the state. Organizers are likely to succeed in placing a proposed amendment on the ballot that would create a “fundamental right” to receive abortion care up until fetal viability, or about the 24th week of pregnancy. If voters approve the ballot measure, it would effectively undo both the 1864 near-total ban and the 15-week ban. But the state Supreme Court decision prompted Republicans to also discuss a series of possible contingencies, including pushing alternative ballot measures to compete with the pro-abortion rights proposed amendment. Abortion rights groups welcomed Wednesday’s news but pledged to continue building support around their ballot measure. “Though we celebrate today’s important step forward,” Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona Angela Florez said in a statement, “we know the fight is far from over.”