White House Sends Kamala Harris to Arizona: 1864 Law Banning Abortion Set Makes Pivotal State New Battleground for Reproductive Rights…and Democrats Take Advantage
Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Arizona on Friday just days after the state Supreme Court ruled an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions was enforceable.
Harris has been a leading figure in the Biden administration advocating for abortion rights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The White House announced she would travel to Tucson later this week, shortly after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the 160-year-old law that bans abortion with no exceptions for rape or incest.
The White House said the visit would be to ‘continue her leadership in the fight for reproductive freedom.’
It’s her second trip to the battleground state of Arizona this year and her fifth since being sworn in.
“Last month, the vice president visited Phoenix, AZ to highlight how extremists in states across the country have proposed and passed abortion bans that threaten women’s health, force them to travel out of state to receive care, and criminalize doctors,” The White House said.
Vice President Harris at the White House on Wednesday. On Friday, Harris heads to Tucson, AZ as part of her continuing ‘fight for reproductive freedom’
Harris became the first sitting vice president or president to visit an abortion clinic last month
Harris on April 10 at the White House with Secretary of State Antony Blinken for the arrival ceremony of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
Arizona’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state can enforce its long-dormant law that criminalizes all abortions except when a mother’s life is at stake. Pictured: Thousands protest at the Arizona State Capitol after the 2022 Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade
The Arizona court’s 4-2 decision on Tuesday cleared the way for enforcement of one of the strictest abortion bans in the country.
The Civil War-era law was written nearly fifty years before Arizona became a state and more than fifty years before women had the right to vote.
It provides two to five years in prison for anyone who assists in an abortion unless the procedure is necessary to save the mother’s life.
Harris has been on a nationwide ‘Fight for Reproductive Freedom’ tour that has included stops in Wisconsin, California, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Minnesota.
Last month, she became the first sitting vice president or president ever to visit an abortion clinic with a trip to a Planned Parenthood facility in Minnesota.
“This even more extreme and dangerous ban criminalizes nearly all abortion care in the state and puts women’s lives at risk,” Harris said in a statement after the Arizona ruling.
Harris previously criticized President Trump for his role in nominating three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe with the Dobbs decision in 2022, which returned the issue of abortion to the states.
‘Arizona has just rolled back the clock to a time before women could vote – and according to its own statement, there is one person responsible: Donald Trump.’
‘The American people believe that health care decisions should be made between women and their doctors, not politicians, and we are ready to stand up to fight for our most fundamental freedoms,” she added.
“This is what it looks like to leave it up to the states,” Biden campaign rapid response director Ammar Moussa wrote on X after the Arizona ruling.
The 4-2 decision could affect other states seeking to restrict abortion and could have far-reaching effects into the 2024 election. Pictured: Arizona Supreme Court justices, from left; William G. Montgomery, John R Lopez IV, Deputy Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer, Chief Justice Robert M. Brutinel, Clint Bolick and James Been
On Monday, Trump said his position on abortion is that it should be left up to the states.
He made the announcement in a four-and-a-half-minute video posted on Truth Social. His remarks signaled a shift away from his earlier suggestion that he would consider a federal abortion ban.
Trump also said he supports exemptions in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the mother.
The timing of the Arizona court’s decision a day after his announcement could put the former president back on the defensive on the issue after he dragged his feet for months to even say where he stands.
Abortion has proven to be a motivational issue that has helped Democrats in midterm elections and a number of special elections since the Dobbs decision ended federal abortion rights.
Some Republicans in tight races have struggled to articulate a position on the issue that could hurt them politically. Others have gone back past remarks.
Donald Trump released a video on Monday in which he praised the overturning of Roe v Wade and said he believes the issue of abortion should be left to the states to decide.
Arizona passed a 15-week abortion ban in 2022, but the state Supreme Court upheld the Arizona 1864 Abortion Act, which bans nearly all abortions except for rape or incest. It may take several weeks before the new decision takes effect
Several Arizona Republicans on Tuesday came out against the state Supreme Court’s decision.
GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake said she has traveled the country and “it’s abundantly clear that the law before the state is out of step with Arizonans.”
‘I oppose today’s ruling and I urge Katie Hobbs and the state legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support. Ultimately, Arizona voters will make the decision on the ballot in November,” Lake said in a statement.
Back in 2022, before Roe fell, Lake said as a candidate for governor that Arizona has ‘a big law on the books’ if Roe falls. On Monday, Lake supported Trump’s stance on abortion as a state issue.
Arizona Republican Congressman Juan Ciscomani, who supports the state’s 15-week abortion ban, called Tuesday’s decision a “disaster for women and providers.”
‘Territorial law is archaic. We must do better for women, and I urge our state policymakers to immediately address this in a bipartisan manner,’ he said.
But other Republicans in the state support the measure. Before the decision, Phoenix-based political strategist Tony Cani posted a video of lawmakers praying on the floor of the chamber.
“It’s footage of GOP Sen. Anthony Kern and his prayer team of anti-abortion extremists praying in tongues (not an audio problem) that an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions be reinstated,” he wrote in a post on X.
An effort to put abortion access directly on the ballot in Arizona in the form of a constitutional amendment is well underway.
Last week, a coalition of lawyers announced that they had already collected more than 500,000 signatures on petitions. The threshold to put a measure on the ballot is 383,923, and the July 3 deadline is still three months away.
Arizona for Abortion Access said the amendment looks set to go before voters this fall.