Arizona voters can reap the whirlwind on anti-abortion Supreme Court justices
Make no mistake, former Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey is the reason the state entered Mr. Peabody’s “Wayback Machine” and emerged in an untamed 1864 territory where abortions are banned except to save a woman’s life and violators could end up in prison for two to five years.
The four individuals who decided to uphold the 160-year-old law — Justices John R. Lopez IV, Clint Bolick, James P. Beene and Kathryn H. King — all were appointed by Ducey.
Ducey got the Arizona Legislature to expand the court from five to seven members even though then-Chief Justice Scott Bales said additional judges were not needed and expansion “is not warranted when other court-related needs are underfunded.”
Ducey wasn’t reinforcing the state’s judicial structure, however. He was playing a political game, stacking the deck with like-minded appointees while he had an opportunity to do so.
Ducey sowed the wind, reaped the whirlwind
The former governor is trying, now, to pretend that wasn’t the case, issuing a statement saying, “The ruling today is not the outcome I would have preferred, and I call on our elected leaders to heed the will of the people and address this issue with a policy that is workable and reflective of our electorate.”
Sorry. Not buying it.
Over the years I can’t tell you how many times I have heard Bible-thumping elected officials, eager to exact some type of political revenge, dig deep into the Old Testament in order to quote Hosea 8:7:
“For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind.”
Justices who upheld abortion law: Are profiles in courage
On Tuesday, after the court released its decision, a whole big bunch of Republican politicians, appointees and GOP operatives suddenly felt a very stiff breeze headed in their direction.
It gave them the shivers.
Supreme Court justices will reap voters' wrath
Donald Trump went from bragging about upending Roe v. Wade and trumpeting his belief that states should decide their own abortion policies to carping about how Arizona “went too far.”
His chief cheerleader and failed Arizona governor candidate, Kari Lake, went from calling the 1864 ban a “great law” to calling for it to be replaced.
Trump is feeling the breeze, and Lake senses a dusty desert chinook building on the horizon.
Two of the justices who ruled in favor of the 1864 law might feel it as well. Arizona requires judges to periodically appear on the ballot in order to be retained — or not — by voters.
Justices Bolick and King will both be on the ballot in November.
I’m not a meteorologist, but I do like music, and I believe Bob Dylan got it right in “Subterranean Homesick Blues” when he said:
“You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.”
Reach Montini at [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Abortion ruling will reap voters' wrath on Arizona Supreme Court
