April 24, 2024

Following 15 days of Arizona Republicans lying about their support for the 1864 abortion ban record and stalling every vote on repealing the ban, House Democrats have successfully passed a bill repealing the 1864 abortion ban. The bill, championed by Representative Stephanie Stahl-Hamilton, will now go to the Senate. 

“MAGA Republicans have spent the last week lying about their stance on abortion because they know that when abortion is on the ballot, Democrats win, every time,” said Arizona Democratic Chairwoman Yolanda Bejarano. “This is not something they can sweep under the rug– this is a right held dearly by so many Arizonans. Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans like Kari Lake, David Schweikert, Juan Ciscomani, Matt Gress, Shawnna Bolick, and TJ Shope are rightfully scared that Arizonans will vote them out in November.”
 

ADLCC Co-Chair Priya Sundareshan added, “We are lucky to have Democrats who will do everything in their power to restore protections for the millions of Arizonans who need reproductive healthcare. However, today’s repeal is just one step in the process. We need to flip the legislature so that we can codify abortion access and stop Republicans from interfering in our medical decisions ever again.

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 calling for the enforcement of 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 ticket. To learn more about key initiatives, how to vote or how to support Democrats this election cycle, please visit azdem.org.