“House Republicans in Arizona on Wednesday scuttled another effort to repeal the state’s 1864 law banning abortion, defying pressure from prominent Republicans, including former President Donald J. Trump, who had urged them to toss the ban that many voters viewed as extreme and archaic,” the New York Times reports.
Said Speaker Ben Toma (R): “The last thing we should be doing today is rushing a bill through the legislative process to repeal a law that has been enacted and reaffirmed by the Legislature several times.”
“The Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling last week to uphold the Civil War-era near-total abortion ban infuriated supporters of abortion rights, exhilarated abortion opponents and set off a political firestorm in Arizona, where Republicans narrowly control both houses of the State Legislature but foresaw a grave political threat. Repealing it would revert Arizona to a 15-week abortion ban.”
