Arizona House advances repeal of state’s near-total abortion ban to Senate

PHOENIX — A proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total ban on abortions won approval from the state House Wednesday after two weeks of mounting pressure on Republicans over an issue that has bedeviled former President Donald Trump’s campaign to return to the White House.

Three Republicans joined in with all 29 Democrats to repeal a law that predated Arizona’s statehood and provides no exceptions for rape or incest. If the Senate approves as expected, Arizona would allow abortions up to 15 weeks.

Their political ambitions imperiled by widespread opposition to a near-total abortion ban, Trump and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake had urged Arizona lawmakers to ease the restrictions. But until Wednesday, most state House Republicans repeatedly used procedural votes to block repeal, each time drawing condemnation from Democratic President Joe Biden, who has made his support for abortion rights central to his reelection campaign.

“Make no mistake, Arizonans are living in 1864 now because Donald Trump dismantled Roe v. Wade,” Democratic state Sen. Priya Sundareshan of Tucson said in a news conference Wednesday organized by the Biden campaign and the Arizona Democratic Party.

The repeal vote comes a day after Biden said Trump created a “health care crisis for women all over this country,” by imperiling their access to care.

Dozens of people gathered outside the state Capitol before the House and Senate were scheduled to meet, then filled seats in the public gallery as lawmakers voted, many of them carrying signs or wearing shirts showing their opposition to abortion rights.

Arizona Republicans have been under intense pressure from some conservatives in their base, who firmly support the abortion ban, even as it’s become a liability with swing voters who will decide crucial races including the presidency, the U.S. Senate and the GOP’S control of the Legislature.