April 23, 2024 

In the 14 days since Arizona’s MAGA Republicans worked to roll the clocks back to 1864, banning all abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest, they were caught lying about their long and detailed anti-abortion record, were fundraising in Kentucky on the successful passage of their draconian ban, were caught in their plan to sow misinformation and pull voters away from the abortion access ballot initiative, and repeatedly stalled passage of the repeal at all costs. 

The latest update in Arizona Republican’s 1864 scandal is California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state is developing emergency legislation that would allow doctors from Arizona to come to California to provide abortions. This comes after calls from Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes have publicly called for expedited abortion care. Currently under the ban, Arizonans will have to drive an average of 251 miles one way to receive abortion care. 

“This ban impacts millions of Arizonans, but especially hurts rural and poor people who can’t afford a $500 medical emergency or to drive 500 miles to access the healthcare they need,” said Arizona Democratic Party Chairwoman Yolanda Bejarano. “Arizona’s MAGA Republicans cannot lie their way out of this one– they have voted several times to keep the 1864 ban and have put the lives of so many people at risk. Arizonans deserve accessible and quality healthcare, which is exactly what Democrats are fighting for.”

As a reminder, here’s how Arizona’s MAGA Republicans are lying about their long and detailed record of undermining reproductive rights: 

• Republicans accidentally leaked their plans to pull votes away from the abortion ballot initiative by sowing confusion among voters leading to them enacting another ban. 
• Rep. Matt Gress is one of the most pro-life members of the House, sponsoring House Bill 2427 that would have established fetal personhood in Arizona, opening the door for banning reproductive healthcare services such as IVF.
• When presented with legislation to repeal the ban, Rep. Matt Gress voted with the Republican majority so that the House entered recess and the discussion was shut down. 
• Rep. Matt Gress again voted with the Republican majority in adjourning session for the day without hearing discussion on the ban repeal. 
• When held accountable for his votes, Rep. Gress said, “I don’t remember voting aye ― my (GOP) colleagues would be surprised.”
• When held accountable for his votes, Rep. Gress called the attention to the video “unfair” and called the attempts to contradict his story a “partisan attack and a lie.”
• Rep. Gress finally admitted to lying for three whole days after the vote occurred and he could no longer deny video evidence.

• Rep. Shawnna Bolick joined every Senate Republican in urging voters to refuse to sign the abortion access initiative in Arizona, vowing to introduce anti-abortion legislation including banning abortion at the “moment of conception.”
• Senator T.J. Shope co-sponsored the bill to ban abortions at 15 weeks  that would have prosecuted doctors who performed abortions after 15 weeks.
• Senate Majority Leader Sonny Borrelli retorted that women should “hold aspirin between their knees,” suggesting that women wouldn’t need access to contraception if they kept a pill bottle between their legs to stop them from having sex.

• Kari Lake has made her opposition to reproductive rights clear, including supporting the 1864 territorial ban on abortion, and said just a few months ago her dangerous positions on abortion “haven’t changed, actually.” Lake’s extreme views include support for banning abortions without exceptions for rape or incest for Arizonans, that “life begins at conception,” celebrating the fall of Roe, and “banning those types of abortion pills” in reference to medication abortions.
• Congressman David Schweikert co-sponsored the Life at Conception Act six times. The Life at Conception Act would ban all abortions and does not exclude IVF treatments in defining “person” as “each and every member of the species homo sapiens at all stages of life, including the moment of fertilization.” 
• Congressman Juan Ciscomani co-sponsored H.R. 7, legislation that prohibits using government subsidies, including tax credits, to purchase insurance plans that cover abortions. Women who are serving in the military, veterans or covered under Medicaid, as well as federal employees and those covered by the Indian Health Service, would not be able to use their credits to purchase insurance that covers abortions.
• Former Governor Doug Ducey pushed through a 15-week ban that was the basis of this court case going to the Arizona Supreme Court, and appointed all the far-right justices that made the ruling today.

Arizona Democrats are prepared to fight for abortion rights up and down the ballot. To learn more about key initiatives, how to vote or how to support Democrats this election cycle, please visit azdem.org.