“Kari Lake on Saturday solidified her support for Arizona’s total abortion ban”

Friday, April 19th, 2024

ARIZONA -–  Kari Lake has “solidified her support for Arizona’s total abortion ban and called on county sheriffs to enforce the law once it goes into effect” as reported for the first time by Copper Courier today. 

At a Mohave County Republican Party event, Lake said of the 1864 ban “We can have that law, but it’s not going to be enforced with the people we have in office,” then, “No, we don’t have that law. She’s not enforcing the law, so we don’t have them. The only people who can enforce that law are sheriffs.”

Lake has described the 1864 ban as a “great law.” which could include arresting “doctors and women who are pregnant as a result of sexual assault.” 

Lake’s “[confirmation] that her support of a total ban is resolute” comes as she attempted to downplay the severity of the draconian 1864 territorial ban on abortion and as she touted the endorsement of  State Senator Sonny Borrelli who previously said, “Like I said, Bayer Company invented aspirin. Put it between your knees,”

Lake’s  “clear record on” abortion includes support for the 1864 territorial ban, saying abortion is a “sacrifice, ”an “execution,” “not a medical choice,” “not health care,” and calling herself “100% pro-life” and says abortion is an “execution […] pure and simple.”

Copper Courier: Kari Lake calls on Arizona county sheriffs to make arrests over 1864 abortion ban

By: Camaron Stevenson

April 19th, 2024

Key Points:

• Republican candidate for US Senate Kari Lake on Saturday solidified her support for Arizona’s total abortion ban and called on county sheriffs to enforce the law once it goes into effect.

• “We can have that law, but it’s not going to be enforced with the people we have in office,” Lake said in a recording obtained by The Copper Courier. “No, we don’t have that law. She’s not enforcing the law, so we don’t have them. The only people who can enforce that law are sheriffs.”

• Lake’s statements at a Mohave County Republican Party event clarify her position on the soon-to-be reinstated, total ban on abortion… 

• While many took Lake’s opposition to mean she, like other Republicans facing an election in November, instead supported the state’s 15-week ban, her comments to Mohave County residents seem to confirm that her support of a total ban is resolute…

• Despite this recent display of concern over the law, comments made during Lake’s campaign for governor imply that she has long known the 1864 abortion ban did not include an exception for victims of sexual assault, such as pregnancies resulting from rape or incest. When she spoke in support of the ban on the talk show Conservative Circus, she described it as a “great law” but only mentioned its exception that would “prohibit abortion in Arizona except to save the life of a mother.”

• While Lake’s stance does put her in line with former President Donald Trump—who paved the way to overturn federal protections for abortion services and, in turn, Arizona’s total ban […] her claim that pregnancies resulting from rape are rare is incorrect. A study by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology found that the rape-related pregnancy rate is 5%. In Arizona, that amounts to an estimated 180 rape-related pregnancies in 2023.

• Abortion bans like Arizona’s have been found to result in a major spike in pregnancies caused by rape. The American Medical Association estimates that since Roe v Wade was overturned, there have been 64,500 rape-related pregnancies in the 14 states studied—including 59,000 in the nine that have banned abortion completely. In the five states that have an exception for rape victims, 5,500 women who were sexually assaulted became pregnant as a result.

• Lake’s admonition that sheriffs arrest those found to be in violation of the law as it currently stands, which would include doctors and women who are pregnant as a result of sexual assault, would put local law enforcement in direct contradiction of the state’s chief legal officer, Attorney General Kris Mayes…

• Should sheriffs or police choose to arrest women for seeking abortions or medical professionals for offering abortion services, Mayes would simply decline to prosecute, resulting in a time-consuming exercise that would take officers away from other duties, and open law enforcement agencies up to potential lawsuits from those who have been arrested.

• Lake’s callout to begin arresting Arizonans in need of medical care also appears to be premature; Abortion is currently still legal in Arizona until 15 weeks of pregnancy, and it is unclear when the total ban will go into effect Providers have said they will continue to offer abortion-related services until they receive a court mandate to cease.