Arizona House Votes to Revoke 1864 Abortion Ban

Arizona House Votes to Revoke 1864 Abortion Ban
Arizona House Votes to Revoke 1864 Abortion Ban. Credit | REUTERS

United States – Lawmakers of the Arizona House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to revoke an 1864 ban on abortion that could be once in force within the next few weeks if the Senate does not also reject it as well.

Narrow Victory in the House

A law that House members passed by 32 votes to 28 denies women abortions even if they are instances of rape or incest. Three Republicans went against their Party in joining all 29 Democrats who voted to repeal the provision, as reported by Reuters.

The legislative chamber, which is controlled by Republicans by a narrow one-seat margin, may consider the bill as early as May.

“I’m thrilled the House has finally decided to do the right thing and repeal the archaic 1864 near-total abortion ban,” wrote Deloris Katie, the Governor of the Democratic group, on social media. The ban mastermind, Hobbs, intends to sign a repeal of the ban if it clears the passage from the Houses and the Senate.

“The decision to get an abortion, or seek any type of reproductive healthcare, belongs in the hands of patients, their families, and their providers, not politicians,” Democrat lawmaker Oscar De Los Santos told reporters before the Wednesday session.

Partisan Debate

Republicans in the House have been at the forefront for the last two weeks in a standstill position just as Democrats were all set to scrub down the law. Ben Toma, a Republican who is a Speaker of the House, said that he was disappointed that “Democrats believe that abortion should occur with no limits and no regulations.”

“I fervently disagree with those who advocate for extremism through unlimited, unrestricted and unregulated abortions,” Toma added.

The Republican Representative, Matt Gress, was the only Republican present in the last repeal of the abortion enactment that made it possible for the Democrats to fail. Still, two other Republicans coupled him on Wednesday.

“As someone who is both pro-life and the product of strong women in my life, I refuse to buy into the false notion pushed by the extremes on both sides of this issue that we cannot respect and protect women and defend new life at the same time,” Gress wrote on social media after the vote.

Historical Context

Visual Representation. Credit | AP Photo

The abortion bans in Arizona, dating from the years of the Civil War, is the most recent battle in the perennial war over women’s reproductive rights in the USA since the Supreme Court in 2022 terminated the constitutional right to abortion, leaving the issue to be made into law by states. Conservative-governed states unquestionably imposed a lockdown on performing abortions in each of them.

The revival of the old law has come through a Supreme Court ruling on 9th of April and unless the legislature interferes the law will come into effect within the next 60 days, as has been determined by the Attorney General Kris Mayes, who is a Democrat.

Future Outlook

Democrats in Arizona taking action to override the 1864 abortion ban won’t get rid of all the restrictions. On the contrary, some limitations still need to be observed. In 2022, a law bill in Arizona was passed that legally prohibits abortion subsequently to 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Democrats in the U.S., with the belief that public opinion leans towards the abortion procedure, have brought the topic to center stage, especially months before the upcoming presidential election in November. Arizona, which is falling sharp on the line between the Democratic and Republican parties, is a crucial battleground state in the presidential election.

Republican legislators who opposed the law said the Democrats and the three Republican rebels did it only for the expeditiousness of their election campaigns.

Alexander Kolodin, a Republican Representative, confessed that a number of his counterparts had been persuaded to overturn the ban on abortions just to assure defeat of Donald Trump in the November elections and help other Republicans.

“What are we talking about doing in this chamber in exchange for winning that election?” Kolodin said. “We’re talking about killing infants. We’re willing to kill infants in order to win an election.”

However, Representative Stephanie Stahl, a Democrat who is the author of a one-line bill repealing the current law, says it’s clear that most people in Arizona don’t want it anymore, as reported by Reuters.

“The people of Arizona are waiting for us to get this done,” Stahl Hamilton said ahead of the vote.

Abortion rights is also the second agenda of Arizona Democrats to drive a voter initiative in November, independent of the 1864 nullification law.