Ariz. House rejects abortion ban repeal
But Senate starts process to void state’s 1864 law
PHOENIX – Arizona House Republicans twice blocked attempts on Wednesday to repeal a near-total abortion ban that dates from 1864.
But Republicans in the Arizona Senate crossed over to vote with Democrats, kick-starting the legislative process required to pass an abortion ban repeal.
The House action was orderly and relied on procedural motions, but the result was clear: There was no appetite among most House Republicans to nullify the law that was revived last week by a 4-2 state Supreme Court ruling.
Rep. Matt Gress of Phoenix was the only Republican who backed the motion from Democratic Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton to bring a repeal up for a vote. But without another Republican, the repeal supporters lacked the 31 votes they needed to surmount objections from House Speaker Ben Toma.
But in the Senate, Republicans Ken Bennett, T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick joined Democrats to reject three GOP attempts to shut down a vote to introduce a repeal bill. Bolick and Shope then voted with Democrats to introduce the repeal bill.
The measure, which will be called Senate Bill 1734, received its “first read” on Wednesday. That means the bill is active but still needs to work its way through the legislative process. The state constitution requires new bills be heard by each legislative chamber on three separate days, unless lawmakers approve it with a two-thirds majority.
House Democrats vowed to keep up their repeal attempts.
“This is not going away,” said Rep. Lupe Contreras, the House minority leader. “We’ll bring it back to the floor again.”
Stahl Hamilton, a Democrat who sponsored House Bill 2677, predicted if Republicans continue to refuse to allow a vote on repeal, they will pay a price in
this year’s elections.
“We will definitely flip the Legislature,” she said, echoing Democrats’ intent to wrest control from Republicans.
The 1864 law bans abortions at any stage of pregnancy, with exceptions only for the life of the mother. Doctors, or anyone who aids in an abortion, could face three to five years in prison.
Stahl Hamilton acknowledged that while the failure to nullify the law might be politically advantageous, she lamented that it does nothing to protect pregnant women and health care providers.
Wednesday’s session was a contrast with the previous week, where Democrats erupted in angry shouts of “shame, shame” aimed at their GOP colleagues.
Toma condemned those actions and urged lawmakers to refrain from repeating them.
“I would ask everyone in this chamber to respect the fact that some of us believe that abortion is the murder of children,” he said. “It is not OK to shout at each other, it is not OK to engage in the kind of behavior I saw on this floor last week.”
He defended the court’s ruling as he urged lawmakers to reject the call for a repeal.
”The last thing we should be doing today is repealing a law that has been enacted and reaffirmed by the Legislature several times,” he said.
Democrats argued that HB 2677 deserves a vote.
“This issue is very simple,” said Assistant House Minority Leader Oscar de los Santos. “Do we support or do we oppose an 1864 territorial abortion ban?” The answer, twice over, was “no.” After the first attempt failed, Democratic Rep. Alma Hernandez tried again. She argued that Republicans play with the rules all of the time to deny Democrats the ability to have their bills heard. And she reminded lawmakers of the consequences of their actions.
“There are so many people watching right now and watching what Arizona is doing,” Hernandez said, adding that to not even consider a bill that would protect rape victims is appalling.
Democrats had counted on Rep. David Cook’s support for the repeal motion. But the Republican stuck with his caucus.
“I’ve never rolled my leadership or my speaker,” Cook said.
He said he supports a repeal, but it must be done “the right way” and waiving the rules isn’t proper, he said.
Wednesday’s actions played out before a House gallery filled with supporters of Arizona Right to Life.
Bob Pamplin of Mesa said he wanted to see Republicans stand for the unborn, regardless of the political consequences.
“I’m going to support life and I think that’s what elected officials that say they’re pro-life need to do also, not just put their finger in the air and see which way the wind is blowing,” he said.
Another abortion opponent, Michael “Mike Check” Rogers, wore a shirt that said: “Democrats created abortion to control the Black population.”
He said he opposed a repeal of the 1864 law and hoped Republican lawmakers placed protecting life ahead of “votes.”
Still, he thinks the abortion ban needs some “tinkering.”
“I don’t like doctors being in jail for two to three years,” Rogers said. “But I don’t think we have to gut the entire law in order to get rid of those bad branches of the tree.”
Cathi Herrod, president of the antiabortion Center for Arizona Policy, said she was “pleasantly surprised” to see Gress and the Democrats’ repeal bid shot down. But she expected to see another repeal try soon, adding: “It’s not over until sine die.” That term refers to the conclusion of Arizona’s legislative session.
The 1864 law was revived last week in a state Supreme Court decision that made headlines nationwide. The following day, attempts to push an immediate repeal were shut down by Republicans, triggering loud protests from Democrats.
Meanwhile, the state Senate has a busy calendar with non-abortion bills queued up for a vote. There is a chance that if a repeal is approved by the House, the measure could be sent to the Senate immediately, but it would take several days of work before it could be up for a final vote.