Arizona Senate votes to repeal 1864 abortion ban, sends measure to governor
Arizona lawmakers took a significant step Wednesday toward blocking a Civil War-era abortion ban, after state senators repealed the measure the Arizona Supreme Court said last month could stand.
The vote fell largely on party lines, with two Republican state senators, Sen. Shawnna Bolick and Senate President Pro Tempore T.J. Shope, breaking from the chamber's GOP majority to back repealing the near-total ban.
Along with banning abortions in all situations except life-threatening medical emergencies, the nineteenth century law imposes prison terms for doctors and others who aid in an abortion.
The repeal will head to Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, for her signature. As the Senate was voting, Hobbs told reporters earlier in the day that she would sign it “as soon as it gets to my desk.”
Before the final vote on the repeal, Republican state Sen. Jake Hoffman tried to introduce a motion to require law enforcement to be notified for some abortions, but was shut down by Senate President Warren Petersen, who said his motion was out of order.
As the chamber voted, Bolick delivered a speech stretching over 20 minutes to explain her vote. It covered her own pregnancies, other pregnancy stories, her appointment to the Senate in 2023 and critiques of Hobbs.
Other Republicans combined to voice criticism of the repeal for hours in floor speeches. Sen. Anthony Kern, a Glendale Republican, derided Republicans who voted for the repeal and still claim to oppose abortion, calling their position the “epitome of delusion.”
Ahead of the vote, more than 100 demonstrators and people on both sides of the abortion issue gathered outside the Senate building, many holding signs. Dozens of others packed the Senate gallery, and at times lawmakers had sharp comments for each other.
Arizona's House of Representatives set the stage for the repeal on April 24 following weeks of political angst over a state Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban as the law of the land.
After Hobbs signs it, the repeal will be set to take effect 90 days after the last day of the year's legislative session.
State Attorney General Kris Mayes had already indicated she wouldn't enforce the Civil War-era ban or any other anti-abortion law. She's backed up by an executive action by Hobbs that gives authority over abortion-related prosecutions to the Attorney General's Office.
The law became a dire issue for abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The court's decision led abortion foes to try to lift a stay on the law in Arizona that had been in place since 1973. In April, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the 1864 ban, spurring Democrats and even many Republicans in swing districts to support a repeal.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Arizona Senate votes to repeal near-total 1864 abortion ban