Just three weeks after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled to uphold a pre-statehood law that put a near-total ban on abortion, the Senate passed a bill to repeal it on Wednesday. The Democrat led effort narrowly passed out of the chamber with a 16-14 vote with the help of two Republican senators.
Gov. Katie Hobbs is scheduled to sign the measure on Thursday.
The bill brought forth a multifaceted effort from Democrats and unexpected Republican allies to exercise every possible avenue to enshrine broader abortion rights into law.
Sen. TJ Shope, R-Coolidge, and Sen. Shawnna Bolick, R-Phoenix, were the two GOP senators to side with Democrats in the chamber to repeal the near-total abortion ban. Pro-life Republicans were at odds with their colleagues who opposed banning abortion besides to save the life of a mother, and this was clear in their efforts to block the bill from passing out of the Senate.
Senators' effort to pass the bill brought forward intraparty Republican disputes over the issue and claims that the process circumvented regular legislative procedures.
Multiple Republican lawmakers tried to block Sen. Anna Hernandez, D-Phoenix, in her motion to bring the one-line bill to repeal the law forward, without success.
Sen. Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, unsuccessfully tried for an amendment to the bill, which would require cases of rape or incest be reported to law enforcement. The effort was shot down by Senate President Warren Petersen, R-Gilbert.
Despite failing to tack an amendment to the legislation, Hoffman successfully pressured Petersen into adding the language of Hernandez’s motion to the vote screen for the purpose of public understanding. A large aspect of opposition to the effort was because the bill never got a committee hearing where public comment is permitted.
When it came time for the senators to place their votes on the bill, Bolick expanded on her stance for the first time since she had announced her support of the repeal.
She shared the details of three separate pregnancies in a lengthy and descriptive manner without revealing whose stories they were. Her near thirty-minute vote explanation was cut off multiple times by her Republican colleagues.
Sen. Anthony Kern, R-Peoria, called a point of order, to which Petersen asked Bolick to keep her statement germane to the bill.
“The comments are germane because not every pregnancy is the same,” Bolick said. She continued on, telling the story of a woman who required an abortion due to an unviable pregnancy.
“This is a disgrace, just vote already,” a woman in the gallery said, cutting Bolick off . She closed out her speech.
“I know the chronicles of these pregnancies quite intimately because they're all my own,” Bolick said. Total silence fell across the chamber. “And my family lived and survived each one of them including my miscarriage. Having a D&C my first trimester because the baby wasn't viable was very tough. Would Arizona’s pre-Roe law have allowed me to have that medical procedure, even though at the time my life was not in danger?”
Bolick made it clear she still opposes the Democrat-backed ballot initiative that would permit abortions up until fetal viability.
“I want to protect our state constitution from unlimited abortion up until the moment of birth,” Bolick said in closing out her speech.
As more votes trickled in, it was clear the bill was set to pass out of the chamber. Some senators used their vote explanations to tell emotional stories of their own paths to parenthood, while others expressed dismay for the lack of Republican unity on the issue.
“In this case, our Democratic colleagues who are very good at sticking together unfortunately, come this side of the aisle, we are not so good at doing that,” Sen. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, said.
“In this case, we are getting rolled again by two Republicans, unfortunately, to repeal one of the best, strongest pro-life measures in the country,” Hoffman said.
Sen. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott, did not agree that Republican leadership had been rolled.
“I'm pro life and I voted no against the motion but I just want to stand in support of every member of this body being able to vote their conscience and I support the two in our caucus that are not voting with the others,” Bennett said.
Sen. Sonny Borrelli, R-Lake Havasu City, said the process was rushed and lacked public input.
“The process has been violated,” Borrelli said. “There should have been amendments on this, (for) rape, incest, but we were all robbed the opportunity for debate.”
Sen. Wendy Rogers, R-Flagstaff, said it is “politically pragmatic for us to find middle ground.”
“It’s politically astute because we might lose votes, we might lose the legislature, we might lose the presidential election, we might lose the federal election,” Rogers said. “And I say to you, it's more important to do what’s right.”
Kern made another jab at his Republican colleagues who voted for the repeal.
“The epitome of delusion is saying, ‘I am pro-life,’ yet voting to repeal an abortion ban,” Kern said.
Sen. J.D. Mesnard questioned whether the pro-life community has done a good job standing up for women with unplanned pregnancies.
The near-three hour bill reading came to a close and pro-life advocates trickled out of the Senate gallery.
The legislation to reject the near-total abortion ban is on its way to being signed into law. It was transmitted back to the House, where it will be immediately sent to Hobbs’ desk.
Copyright © 2024 BridgeTower Media. All Rights Reserved.
Most Popular
Comments / 0