But Republicans’ public concern for the ruling from the state Supreme Court is inconsistent with the actions they took to ensure the ruling was possible, wiping out fundamental freedoms for millions of Arizonans.
The double talk is unsurprising in an election year when abortion and reproductive rights are at the heart of races and initiatives up and down the ballot, especially in a state where people have long valued freedom from government overreach.
Democrats wanted abortion and reproductive freedom to be the central issue of the election. They appear to have gotten their wish, in part through the antics of flip-flopping Republicans.
One of the poster children of this two-faced abortion electoral politics is state Rep. Matt Gress, a Republican up for reelection in a swing district that straddles Phoenix and Scottsdale. The other two officials from Legislative District 4 are Democrats.
After the ruling, Gress issued a statement saying, “Let me be clear: This decision cannot stand,” and called for lawmakers to repeal the 1864 law immediately, something Democrats previously introduced to the legislature on Jan. 29 with House Bill 2677.
But that isn’t going to happen. House Speaker Ben Toma, who is running for election to Congress in a competitive race of right-wing candidates, told Axios that he would not permit a vote to repeal the 160-year-old abortion ban.
Gress sits on the House Health and Human Services Committee, which never held a hearing for the bill.
On Wednesday, Gress proposed repealing the 1864 law, but leaders of the GOP-controlled Arizona House ended the session.
Gress has introduced several bills that attempted to codify fetal personhood into state law, a backdoor tactic that would have limited the rights of pregnant people.
In his statement on Tuesday, Gress said the state needs laws to ensure access to contraceptives.
“We need laws that respect women and the difficult decision to end a pregnancy in the early stages, before the fetus can feel pain or live outside the womb. And we need to ensure access to contraceptives and IVF," he said.
Yet Gress joined all Republicans on March 13 in blocking an effort by Democrats to vote on a bill guaranteeing access to contraception in Arizona.
Kelli Butler, a Democrat and former state lawmaker who is running against Gress in November, tweeted on X Wednesday that Gress “used women’s lives & health for political theater.”
“Gress can’t fool us. We know his record celebrating overturning Roe V Wade, sponsoring bills to give a fertilized egg the same legal rights as a woman, failing to protect the right to contraception,” Butler added.
Gress, who is gay, also has served as a chief apologist for Republicans’ extreme anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, voting for bills that attempted to criminalize drag shows and targeted transgender students.
Sen. Shawnna Bolick said Tuesday that lawmakers should repeal the state's near-total abortion ban. Yet in 2022, Bolick didn't so so when she had the chance.
ACTV
More Arizona Republicans backpedal on 2022 law
Gress and state Sen. T.J. Shope, a Pinal County Republican who’s also in a competitive district, both made statements that a 2022 bill passed by Republicans that bans abortions after 15 weeks was a better and more appropriate law.Shope, however, sponsored an amendment to the 2022 law that clearly expressed that the new law did not supersede Arizona’s 1864 law that the state Supreme Court reinstated on Tuesday.
Yet on Tuesday, when the court issued its ruling, Shope tweeted, “Today’s Arizona Supreme Court decision reinstating an Arizona Territorial-era ban on all abortions from more than 150 years ago is disappointing to say the least and has ignored our legislative intent.”
Shope was dragged on social media after his tweet, with people pointing out why his statement was misleading.
Of course, Shope is not the only Republican official who approved the language in the 2022 amendment. The credit belongs to the Republicans — 16 senators and 31 representatives — who narrowly passed it and sent it to then-Gov. Doug Ducey.
Ducey signed the bill into law. Yet the Republican governor also criticized the state Supreme Court decision this week and said it was not the outcome he would have preferred.
In 2016, Ducey expanded the court from five to seven justices and he appointed five of the current justices. The only two he did not appoint dissented in the 4-2 decision. (Justice Bill Montgomery recused himself from the case in November following reporting from the Arizona Mirror and The 19th detailing his past inflammatory comments about one of the plaintiffs in the case and his ardent anti-abortion positions).
Clint Bolick had no judicial experience when Ducey appointed him. He served on Ducey’s transition team and had worked at the Goldwater Institute, a prominent libertarian think tank in Arizona.
Bolick and Justice Kathryn King are up for retention on the November ballot, which means voters can choose whether or not to keep them on the state's high court for another six-year term. Yet, voters always retain Supreme Court justices. If Bolick or King are not retained, Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, would appoint their replacement.
Bolick is married to state Sen. Shawnna Bolick, a North Phoenix Republican who was appointed to represent the competitive Legislative District 2 in July 2023.
Shawnna Bolick released a statement on X Tuesday saying she supported legislation banning abortion after 15 weeks.
“Considering today’s Arizona Supreme Court ruling to uphold Arizona’s 1864 territorial abortion ban, it is time for my legislative colleagues to find common ground of common sense: the first step is to repeal the territorial law,” she wrote.
Yet Bolick was one of the Republican lawmakers who voted for the 2022 law that did not repeal the 1864 ban.
Despite her oscillating stance on abortion, Kari Lake has told media outlets that she hasn't changed her position on the issue.
TJ L'Heureux
Kari, Kari, Kari, Kari, Kari Chameleon
State Republican politicians are not the only ones trying to backtrack their way out of a political mess. Candidates for federal office are doing the same thing.Kari Lake, the likely Republican U.S. Senate candidate with extreme stances on abortion, denounced Tuesday's court ruling.
"I speak to more Arizonans than anyone and it is abundantly clear that the pre-statehood law is out of step with Arizonans," Lake said.
Yet in June 2022, Lake said she was “thrilled” about the 1864 law.
“I’m incredibly thrilled that we are going to have a great law that’s already on the books. So it will prohibit abortion in Arizona except to save the life of a mother,” Lake said at the time. “And I think we’re going to be paving the way and setting course for other states to follow.”
Lake has frequently changed her message on abortion throughout her years of chameleonic campaigning.
U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, a Scottsdale Republican who narrowly has maintained hold of his competitive district for years, released a statement Tuesday denouncing the ruling.
“I do not support today’s ruling from the AZ Supreme Court. This issue should be decided by Arizonans, not legislated from the bench. I encourage the state legislature to address this issue immediately,” Schweikert wrote on X.
Schweikert, however, has supported legislation that defines a child as existing at the moment of fertilization.
Schweikert’s race could be pivotal for Democrats hoping to flip the District 1 seat in their quest to take back control of the U.S. House.
U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a Tucson Republican who barely won election to the 6th District seat in 2022, also released a statement denouncing the ruling.
“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 tweeted on X.
Yet Ciscomani cosponsored House of Representatives 7, a bill that aimed to prohibit the use of tax credits to purchase insurance that covers abortion for women who are serving in the military, veterans covered under Medicaid, federal employees and those covered by the Indian Health Service.
A video from September 2022 of Ciscomani walking away from a voter who asked about his stance on abortion began recirculating on Tuesday. The New York Times featured the incident in an October 2022 article titled, “Abortion Is Motivating Voters, but Republicans Would Rather Change the Subject.”
In 2022, Republicans wanted to change the subject. In 2024, they will not have that option, especially as a measure that would enshrine abortion rights in Arizona's constitution is poised to go before voters in November.
