Rep. Matt Gress, a Republican running for reelection in a swing district that straddles Phoenix and Scottsdale, joined the chamber’s 29 Democrats in trying to force a vote on House Bill 2677. The bill would repeal the abortion bill, which was reinstated by the Arizona Supreme Court on April 9. Lawmakers have tried several times since the ruling to repeal the ban.
Yet on Wednesday, none of Gress’ Republican colleagues who said they favor repealing the ban were willing to cross party leadership and vote to consider the bill.
Rep. David Cook of Globe confirmed that he, Rep. Tim Dunn of Yuma and Rep. Justin Wilmeth of Phoenix would join Gress in voting to repeal the abortion ban, according to Arizona Agenda. But when a motion to bring the repeal to a vote in the House was made, only Gress sided with Democrats to vote in favor.
If it sounds unnecessarily complicated, a few facts are worth considering.
Cook, Dunn and Wilmeth all voted in favor of a 2022 bill banning abortion after 15 weeks, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Doug Ducey. But the bill did not supersede the state's 1864 ban, a fact the state Supreme Court cited in its ruling last week.
The three representatives could have broken with their party to deliver the votes necessary to bring the repeal to a vote. But they balked.
House Speaker Ben Toma, who is running for a U.S. House seat in a comfortably Republican district and first must best a competitive primary field of right-wing candidates, has every reason to try to grow his status among extremists. He voiced opposition to overturning the abortion ban immediately after the state Supreme Court’s decision.
Toma likely is biding time to gauge the political and legislative implications of the court decision. Former President Donald Trump and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake publicly said the Arizona ban goes too far, though Lake has been noted for flip-flopping dramatically on abortion. Less than two years ago, she said she was “thrilled” about the “great” 1864 law.
While the push to repeal the abortion ban failed in the House, the effort moved forward in the state Senate on Wednesday. Republican Sens. T.J. Shope of Coolidge and Shawnna Bolick of Phoenix joined the chamber's 14 Democrats to support a motion from Sen. Anna Hernandez of Phoenix to introduce a repeal.
Both Shope and Bolick were among the Republican lawmakers who voted for the 2022 law that did not repeal the 1864 ban. They both criticized the near-total ban after the state Supreme Court's ruling.
It could take several weeks for legislation repealing the ban to reach the Senate floor for a final vote.
Athena Salman, Arizona campaigns director for Reproductive Freedom for All and a former state representative, chastised GOP lawmakers. Her comments came Wednesday after Republicans blocked an attempt to repeal the state's abortion ban.
TJ L'Heureux
‘Do the right thing’
Top statewide Democrats, including Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes, blasted Republicans on Wednesday for their unwillingness to let the repeal receive a vote.“Republican extremists in the House have yet again failed to do the right thing,” Hobbs said in a written statement. “In just one week living under this new reality, women, doctors and health care providers have already begun to feel the devastating effects of living under a total abortion ban. We cannot go on like this.
“A law from 1864 written by 27 men cannot be allowed to govern the lives of millions of Arizona women,” Hobbs added. “It’s time to put politics aside and do the right thing.”
Mayes, who announced that she would not prosecute women or doctors under the 1864 law, said Wednesday that her office would continue exploring legal strategies to fight back against the law. She also blasted Republicans for their hemming and hawing.
“It is abundantly clear that the majority party wants this 160-year-old law to take effect,” Mayes said in a statement. “Complicated or complex decision making is not required to repeal this insane law that doesn’t even include exceptions for rape or incest. Shame on the Republicans for risking the health and lives of women in this state and for criminalizing doctors and nurses for caring for their patients.”
Mayes said Tuesday that the earliest the ban could be enforced is June 8.
At a press conference Wednesday after the motion to vote on the repeal failed, Democratic state Reps. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton of Tucson and Oscar De Los Santos of Phoenix told reporters they would keep pushing to nullify the abortion ban.
“Republicans failed to show up for the people of Arizona," said Stahl Hamilton, who sponsored the repeal bill. "Keeping this archaic law on the books is their signal to us that they would rather cling to an ideology than show up and serve our people with wisdom and compassion.”
De Los Santos, who is the assistant minority leader for House Democrats, highlighted the difference between the parties with a sharp contrast.
“If you believe that a 12-year-old who has been raped by her stepfather should be forced to give birth, vote for the Republican Party,” De Los Santos said. “We are in an election cycle that is truly about freedom versus fascism, and we are seeing it play out in real time. The Republicans today turned their backs on the vast majority of Arizonans — Democrats, Republicans and Independents — who want this law repealed immediately.”
When efforts to move forward a repeal failed on Wednesday, Rep. Alex Kolodin of Scottsdale rejoiced in Republicans’ efforts to block the motion to vote on the repeal.
“We held the line for what we as Republicans know is right,” said Kolodin, who then received a rebuke from Republican Speaker Pro Tempore Travis Grantham for addressing noisy supporters of the abortion ban in the gallery and eliciting applause. “For now, we kept our soul, we kept our faith for one more week.”
Supporters of banning abortion came out in droves to the House on Wednesday, overflowing from the gallery to the building's hearing rooms. They frequently booed and shouted "amen," "glory to God" or other religious interjections.
"A lot of people in witchcraft are being saved," said one woman in a hearing room. "It's amazing."
