Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) on Tuesday criticized Republican lawmakers for backing away from a state Supreme Court ruling that would have reinstated a 160-year-old pre-state law criminalizing abortion.
Hobbs told CNN host Anderson Cooper that Arizonans are “disturbed” by the decision, which reinstates a near-total abortion ban with no exceptions for rape or incest. He called the decision “extremely harmful,” noting that early in his term he had called on lawmakers to repeal the “archaic ban.”
“I renewed that call at the beginning of this Congress,” Hobbs said. “In fact, some of the Republicans who now say this decision goes too far are the same politicians who praised the Dobbs decision that paved the way for today’s court decision.
Arizona Supreme Court upholds near-total abortion ban
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs gives a short speech prior to President Joe Biden’s remarks at the Tempe Center for the Arts on September 28, 2023 in Tempe, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
“And in this case, both the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate made comments in court briefs, asking the court to do the same thing it is doing today,” she added.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled 4-2 on Tuesday that the 1864 law, enacted when Arizona was a territory and codified in 1913 when it became a state, will be upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022. said it was “now enforceable” after the United Nations overturned Roe v. Wade. .
USA Today reportedly changed its headline on Trump’s stance on abortion following a complaint from the Biden-Harris campaign.
Demonstrators during the Women’s March rally in Phoenix, Arizona, USA on Saturday, January 20, 2024. The annual march preceded the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision, which affirmed a woman’s right to an abortion. It will turn over in 2022. (Caitlin O’Hara/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The state court rejected arguments that a 15-week abortion ban passed in 2022 should take effect instead, arguing that more recent laws “create no right to abolish or limit abortion or create a stand-alone law.” It does not confer any legal authority.” Act of 1913.
The Civil War-era law states, “A person who, with intent, furnishes, delivers, or administers to a pregnant woman any drug, narcotic, or substance, causes such woman to ingest it, or uses any instrument or other means to do so.” It is a serious offense for those who use the “thereby causing a miscarriage unless it is necessary to save the life of such a woman,” which could result in a prison sentence of two to five years.
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A 160-year-old anti-abortion law is now enforceable in Arizona. Pictured is an abortion clinic in Idaho. (Darin Oswald/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Hobbs on Tuesday called on the state Legislature to “do the right thing now to repeal the 1864 Prohibition and protect access to reproductive health care.”
Cooper asked the governor about an executive order he signed last year that limits county prosecutors from prosecuting women and doctors who perform abortions.
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Hobbs said her order was “legally sound” and expressed hope it would survive legal challenges.
“This ban, this extreme ban, will prevent people from getting the care they need,” Hobbs said.
Fox News Digital’s Jamie Joseph contributed to this report.
