Arizona Supreme Court assures win on abortion initiative, but Trump can cancel your vote
The Arizona Supreme Court guaranteed the passage of the Arizona Right to Abortion Initiative on Tuesday by deciding to reinstate a pre-Civil War abortion ban.
But don’t be fooled. It doesn’t end there.
No matter what Donald Trump says these days about states being the place to determine abortion policy, he would sign an abortion ban in a second if he got the chance.
Trump is all over the map on abortion
The people Trump appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court prove that. The way he brags about being the person most responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade proves it.
And what proves it most of all is that Trump will do anything or say anything to get elected.
Remember, this is a guy who told Chris Matthews of CNBC back in 2016 that a woman who has an abortion deserves some form of punishment.
“Do you believe in punishment for abortion, yes or no? As a principle?” Matthews asked.
“The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment,” Trump said.
The pill will end: The abortion debate as we know it
“For the woman?” Matthews asked.
To which Trump said, “Yeah, there has to be some form.”
Trump suggested no legal repercussions for the man, of course.
He'll say (and do) whatever to get elected
During his life Trump has been all over the map when it comes to abortion, seemingly willing to change his opinion depending upon which position would be in the best interest of … himself.
So, we’ve gone from the early “I just believe in choice” Trump to the “There has to be some form of punishment Trump” to Monday’s video in which Trump says states should decide.
Or, as he put it, “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.”
The Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America issued a statement saying it is “deeply disappointed” in the former president’s decision not to embrace a 15-week federal limit.
That’s probably because just a few weeks Trump talked favorably about a proposed 15-week federal abortion ban.
Would Trump go extreme? Do I have to ask?
They know — or should know — that Trump is only saying what he’s saying because he believes that’s what he needs to say in order to win the election.
I’d guess that his people gave the most hardcore anti-abortion groups a bit of a nod and a wink.
New legislation might not even be the way Trump chooses to go.
Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas and others have been touting possible enforcement of the 1873 Comstock Act, which made it a federal offense to disseminate birth control through the mail or across state lines, a law that could effectively ban medication abortion if not abortions in general.
Would Trump, if he thought it would benefit him politically, push his Justice Department to put the Comstock restrictions into effect?
Do I even have to ask?
Reach Montini at [email protected].
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump will cancel your abortion vote if he gets a chance