By Maria Ortiz
Apr 24, 2024, 18:17 PM EDT
The Arizona House of Representatives voted in favor on Wednesday to repeal a Civil War-era ban on nearly all abortions, which will take effect June 8.
The measure now heads to the state Senate, which could grant final approval next week.
The bill would repeal a near-total abortion ban from 1864 that criminalizes abortion in almost all circumstances, and that was confirmed as effective by the state Supreme Court earlier this month.
Arizona’s 1864 abortion law briefly went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2022, but was soon blocked by the courts.
Subsequently was revived by the state supreme court on April 9, which caused a national stir and political panic among republicanswho fear that the near-total ban on abortion will hurt their chances of winning the 2024 elections, including the presidential race.
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee who has boasted about his role in overturning Roe, quickly expressed displeasure with the Arizona ruling, saying the state Supreme Court had gone too far and promising that it would be “fixed” by “ the governor and everyone else.”
With the support of three Republican legislators, the Democrats of the Lower House, who are a minority, managed in their third attempt approve the resolution that would repeal the abortion law of 1864.
With 32 votes in favor and 28 against, the project was approved that overturns the Civil War-era measure that converted abortion into a serious crime, punishable by two to five years in prison for the woman who aborts or anyone who gives her help.
The only exception contemplated was when the surrogate mother was in serious danger of losing her life.
The law was passed before Arizona became a state and before women had the right to vote.
The proposal approved by the House is expected to eliminate the old legislation and will replace it with one that was approved in 2022 by the same state legislature and that allows abortion up to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, establishing exceptions for rape, incest or danger of death for the mother.
Democrats in the Arizona Senate also managed to add two conservative votes last week in favor of a motion to introduce a bill that would repeal the abortion ban of 1864. The Arizona Senate is expected to evaluate the project again next week.
In addition, the governor of Arizona, Democrat Katie Hobbs, has promised that she will sign the proposal if it reaches her desk.
Hobbs also signed an order to prohibit doctors from facing charges for performing abortions and that this decision remains in the hands of the state attorney’s office and not the counties.
Keep reading:
– Arizona Supreme Court revives 1864 law that criminalizes abortion in almost all circumstances
– Biden condemns Arizona abortion ban as “cruel” and “extreme”
– Trump considers that Arizona went “too far” in banning abortion after defending states to regulate