Arizona House votes to repeal 1864 abortion ban upheld by the Supreme Court
by Gloria Rebecca Gomez, Arizona Mirror
After three weeks of trying, the Arizona House of Representatives has voted to repeal a near-total abortion ban that was written in 1864 after the state Supreme Court earlier this month ruled that it could be enforced, setting the stage for the end of abortion services in the Grand Canyon State.
The 32-29 vote came after three Republican legislators, Reps. Tim Dunn, Matt Gress and Justin Wilmeth, crossed party lines to join Democrats in backing the bill. Dunn and Gress supported parliamentary maneuvers that brought the repeal legislation to the House floor for an immediate vote.
Wednesday marked the third straight week there was a push to force a vote on House Bill 2677. The previous two attempts, on April 10 and April 17, were thwarted after Republicans — except Gress — refused to allow the bill to come to the floor. But this time, Dunn joined Gress in bucking House Speaker Ben Toma and the rest of the GOP caucus, allowing the vote to occur.
“I’m proud of my caucus for having fought this off for as long as we have,” House Speaker Pro Tem Travis Grantham said. “I hope people are happy now.”
Republicans who supported the 1864 ban denounced the repeal during a litany of floor speeches.
“Stop calling it archaic to ban abortions. It’s archaic to do abortions,” Rep. Barbara Parker, R-Mesa, said, adding that abortion is “murder.”
Rep. Alexander Kolodin, a Scottsdale Republican, blasted his colleagues and other Republicans who have said that failing to repeal the Civil War-era law will lead to GOP losses at the ballot this November — and could mean Democrats take control of the Legislature for the first time in decades.
“We’re willing to kill infants to win an election. Put in that context, it’s a little harder to stomach” Kolodin said. “Politics is important, but it’s not worth our souls.”
The state Senate has yet to take up an identical measure that was introduced last week after two Republican senators joined Democrats in allowing the late introduction of legislation. That bill is not expected to be voted on in the Senate until May 1. If it passes, it would be sent to Gov. Katie Hobbs, who has called on the legislature to repeal the 160-year-old law.
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