On their third attempt in three weeks, Arizona state House lawmakers voted Wednesday to pass a bill that would repeal the near-total ban on abortion from 1864…
The issue now moves to the state Senate, which is also expected to vote to repeal the near-total ban the Arizona Supreme Court upheld earlier this month.After a dizzying course of votes throughout the afternoon, three state House Republicans joined Democrats in approving a repeal of the Civil War-era law that made abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs one or helps a woman obtain one.
"That’s a good thing," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the vote."We’re moving forward in the right direction."The Biden campaign blamed Donald Trump for the turmoil, saying that the former president"is responsible for Arizona’s abortion ban" after appointing three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade.
But on Wednesday, amid mounting pressure, Republicans in the chamber appeared to finally relent, with three GOP lawmakers — state Reps. Matt Gress, Tim Dunn and Justin Wilmeth — joining the 29 Democrats in the chamber to pass the repeal. Republicans were more easily able to kill that vote because it came under a procedural vote to suspend state House rules. Under Arizona House rules, a majority of the chamber that includes the speaker is required to vote to suspend the rules to hold an immediate vote. Such obstacles didn't exist on Wednesday because the vote came amid normal House order.
"We may still be looking at a period of time when the 1864 could potentially take effect," Mayes said in a statement.Some prominent anti-abortion groups called on Republicans to unite behind that law, which was enacted in 2022, following Wednesday’s vote.
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