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Arizona lawmakers secured the votes Wednesday to repeal a state-wide abortion ban that dated to 1864. The move came less than a month after the state’s Supreme Court voted to uphold the law in the wake of the Dobbs decision despite more recent legislation that would limit abortion after 15 weeks.
The 1864 law banned all abortions except those deemed necessary to save the mother’s life, making the key swing state’s policy one of the most restrictive in the nation.
Two Republican senators joined Democrats in the state legislature to vote to repeal the ban.
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed the bill, as expected, which means Arizona’s 15-week limit on abortion will become state law.
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Prominent Republicans including former President Donald Trump and US Senate candidate Kari Lake had pressured Arizona’s GOP to repeal the near-total ban, saying it went too far. The 1864 ban was unpopular with a majority of state residents; an October poll found that 59% of Arizona’s registered voters said abortion should be mostly or always legal, while just 34% said it should be mostly or always illegal.
Democrats had hoped to seize on outrage over the near-total ban and are still planning a ballot measure in Arizona this November that would enshrine the right to abortion in the state’s constitution. Having such a measure on the ballot could sway votes beyond the presidential election, such as Lake’s tight race against Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego for the US Senate seat.
Despite the repeal, Arizona residents will spend most of their summer subject to the ban unless the state attorney general successfully intervenes, which she has said she plans to do. That’s because of a procedural quirk: Arizona bills typically take effect 90 days after the legislative session ends.
