During an interview on Tuesday, Democratic state Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton expressed her amusement regarding the Democratic effort in the Arizona State Legislature to repeal an 1864 abortion ban before it becomes enforceable.
Stahl Hamilton chuckled and stated, "I was told that we could get a clean repeal tomorrow, but you know, who knows, right? Who knows who loses their nerve, you know, the night before the day? Or minutes before, you know? All I know is we got to keep trying. And people in Arizona need us to continue to do everything we can to repeal this ban."
Recently, the Arizona Supreme Court made a ruling allowing the enforcement of the highly-restrictive 160-year-old law that prohibits almost all abortions, except to save the life of the mother. This law is set to take effect on June 8, superseding the current law that permits abortions up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Despite two previous attempts by Democrats to repeal the 1864 law without the support of Republican House Speaker Ben Toma, they have failed to gather enough backing for a vote on a rules change.
Arizona Senate Struggles to Repeal 160-Year-Old Abortion Ban
An attempt on April 17 to repeal the ban through a temporary rule change fell short by just one vote. Despite the support of two Senate Republicans, progress was made in the upper chamber with a first reading of a repeal bill. However, two more readings are necessary before a vote can take place.
Representative Toma has been a vocal critic of Democrats on the issue of abortion. Following the Arizona Supreme Court decision, Toma released a statement emphasizing the importance of taking time to listen to constituents and carefully consider actions rather than rushing legislation without thorough discussion.
In his statement, Toma also raised concerns about the potential outcomes under the Democrats' perspective, suggesting that under their view, partial birth abortions and minor abortions without parental consent could be allowed, although there is no evidence to support this claim in the context of repealing the longstanding law.
Arizona Senate Democrats have expressed skepticism about the future of repeal efforts in the House. Stahl Hamilton, a Democratic senator, noted the challenges of garnering Republican support for the repeal, citing concerns about possible last-minute changes of opinion within the party.
Democratic state Sen. Eva Burch highlighted the internal divisions within the Republican caucus in Arizona, particularly regarding how to address the continuation of a Civil War era abortion ban.
"The repeal is not going to go through, certainly not in the way that it should — not in the way that's being called for. We've already passed that point," Burch said.
"So do I think that they're going to come together and do the right thing?" Burch went on. "I don't have any faith that that's what's going to happen."
Democratic state Sen. Anna Hernandez also said she wasn't confident in the prospect of any repeal effort, but noted "anything can happen."
The legislature is set to meet Wednesday morning and once again attempt to address the issue.
Arizona Right to Life, an anti-abortion group, is calling on legislators to oppose those efforts, and plans on organizing at the state capitol as well.
