On Wednesday, the Republican majority in the Arizona House of Representatives fended off another effort to repeal a recently-reinstated 1864 law that effectively bans all abortions in the state.
As Breitbart reports, the effort comes after the Arizona Supreme Court issued a surprise ruling declaring that the 160-year-old law could be reinstated and enforced by the state government. The decision led to praise from pro-life groups and criticism from Democrats, with the latter vowing to repeal it.
In the Arizona Senate, two Republicans voted with all Democrats to allow the latest repeal effort to move forward. Kim Quintero, the Senate GOP’s communications director, said that a first reading of the new repeal bill could happen as soon as Wednesday, with the actual repeal vote taking place as early as within the next two weeks.
“In total, three Republicans in competitive districts joined Democrats to support repeal,” reported Axios. “The razor-thin margins, 30-30 in the House and 16-14 in the Senate, illustrate the tensions that the ruling has generated in this battleground state.”
“Even if the repeal ultimately passes, it likely will not have the two-thirds supermajorities required to go into effect immediately, meaning it would become law 90 days after the legislative session ends,” Axios added.
Speaker of the House Ben Toma (R-Ariz.) issued a statement saying that “the last thing we should be doing today is rushing a bill through the legislative process to repeal a law that has been … reaffirmed by the legislature several times.”
On Wednesday, Toma also called on his colleagues to maintain respectful behavior during debate on the legislation, as Democrats got increasingly heated over the 1864 law.
“I would ask everyone in this chamber to respect the fact that some of us believe that abortion is the murder of children,” said Toma. “It is not OK to shout at each other, it is not OK to engage in the kind of behavior I saw on this floor last week.”
Despite the Republican resistance in the legislature, several of the state’s most prominent Republicans have voiced their disapproval of the 1864 law, including former Governor Doug Ducey (R-Ariz.) and Senate candidate Kari Lake (R-Ariz.).