CV NEWS FEED // In a stunning decision Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 pro-life law protecting almost all unborn children in the state.
However, many prominent Republicans in the state harshly rebuked the ruling.
The court ruled 4-2 Tuesday that the law which was passed when Arizona was still a U.S. territory is “now enforceable” and will be enacted in two weeks.
The over century-and-a-half-old law is set to replace the state’s existing pro-life law which only protects most unborn children after 15 weeks gestation.
Republican then Gov. Doug Ducey signed the significantly weaker legislation into law in March 2022. Less than three months later, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturning Roe v. Wade.
The Arizona Supreme Court held that the 2022 law “is predicated entirely on the existence of a federal constitutional right to an abortion since disclaimed” by the Dobbs decision.
Axios reported that “[a] provision of the 2022 law had affirmed it wasn’t repealing the 19th-century law.”
FOX News noted that the 1864 law “was codified in 1913 after Arizona became a state” and “includes an exception in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.”
FOX described that the law would also make it a felony for anyone who “provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman, unless it is necessary to save her life,” resulting in a prison sentence between 2-5 years.
Per Axios, the ruling “sets up a high-stakes battle over a possible November ballot measure that would protect abortion in Arizona up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.” Pro-abortion activists are “collecting signatures” to add the measure to the ballot, Axios added.
In another surprising development, prominent Arizona Republicans appeared to immediately condemn the decision.
Shortly after news of the ruling broke, U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake, a Republican, announced her opposition.
“I oppose today’s ruling, and I am calling on [Democratic Gov.] Katie Hobbs and the State Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support,” Lake said in a statement.
A former news anchor, Lake was the Republican nominee in the 2022 Arizona Gubernatorial Election which she narrowly lost to Hobbs.
“Ultimately, Arizona voters will make the decision on the ballot come November,” Lake added in her statement. “As your Senator, I will OPPOSE … Federal ban(s) on abortion.”
The Republican candidate also noted that she would “FIGHT FOR … Protecting [in vitro fertilization (IVF)].”
The same day, Daily Wire host Matt Walsh took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize Lake’s comments.
“This is not a ‘state’s rights’ position she’s taking,” wrote Walsh, a Catholic. “[Lake is] actively against a law protecting the unborn in her own state.”
Furthermore, Walsh called Lake’s stance “not incrementalism.”
“This is just the wholesale adoption of the left wing position on a crucial issue,” he added. “We wouldn’t accept it if she suddenly announced she was pro-illegal immigration or pro-gun control. We shouldn’t accept this either.”
Pro-life media outlet LifeNews.com noted that Lake “calls on Katie Hobbs for a solution.”
“Hobbs supports abortions up to birth,” LifeNews stated. “That’s crazy.”
While running for governor two years ago, Lake presented herself as a pro-life candidate.
“Obviously I think Roe should be overturned,” she said in early 2022. “[W]e have a great law on the books right now. If that happens, we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore.”
Also during her 2022 campaign, Lake was heavily scrutinized after reports surfaced about her alleged former friendship with a “drag queen.” The “drag queen” in question claimed that he once performed at Lake’s house with her then school-aged daughter present.
Lake has previously supported pro-abortion Democratic candidates including former President Barack Obama.
In January 2017, days before President Donald Trump assumed office, Lake posted a message to social media appearing to advocate protesting Trump’s inauguration. The message seemed to encourage people to donate money to Planned Parenthood and included the hashtag #NotMyPresident to refer to Trump.
Arizona is set to hold its Republican Senate primary election on August 6. Lake’s main competitor in the Republican primary is Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb.
The winner of this contest will face pro-abortion Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-AZ – the presumptive Democratic nominee – in the general election. Incumbent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-AZ, is not seeking re-election.
Like Lake, Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-AZ, also came out strongly against the Arizona Supreme Court’s pro-life ruling.
The freshman congressman called the 1864 law “archaic.”
“Today’s ruling is a disaster for women and providers,” he wrote in a statement posted to X.
“As my record shows, I’m a strong supporter of empowering women to make their own healthcare choices and I oppose a national abortion ban,” Ciscomani continued.
“We must do better for women and I call on our state policymakers to immediately address this in a bipartisan manner,” he added.
Ciscomani represents a swing district in the Tucson area and won his 2022 race by 1.5% of the vote. He is set to face businesswoman Kathleen Winn in the August 6 Republican primary.
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