亚利桑那州最高法院周二的裁决在亚利桑那州成立之前，支持几乎全面的堕胎禁令引起了州共和党人的不同反应，他们此前声称“100%反对堕胎”，而地方和国家民主党人则誓言要在2024年地图上最重要的政治州之一推动保护堕胎权。
副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯计划周五前往图森参加她的“为生殖自由而战”，预计她将在那里继续严厉指责前总统唐纳德·特朗普任命的三名法官，特朗普在2022年投票否决了罗诉韦德案对堕胎权利的国家保障。
从那以后，在全国各地的红州和蓝州直接投票时，保护或扩大堕胎权利的努力都取得了成功。
哈里斯在周二的一份声明中说:“亚利桑那州刚刚回到了女性可以投票的时代——而且他自己也承认，有一个人要为此负责:唐纳德·特朗普。”
她认为，如果特朗普再次当选，并且“如果他有机会的话”，他将签署联邦堕胎禁令，尽管特朗普本周发表了一份新声明，坚称他希望将选择权留给各个州-但没有具体说明他将在全国禁令上做什么。
美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)在通过白宫发表的一份声明中也抨击了亚利桑那州的禁令，该禁令只对挽救孕妇生命的情况有例外。拜登称这些限制是“残酷的”，是“共和党当选官员致力于剥夺妇女自由的极端议程的结果。”
该禁令暂时受阻，等待审判法院的裁决。任何违反禁令的人都将面临两到五年的州监狱监禁。
与此同时，共和党人似乎在这个问题上走钢丝。
参议院候选人卡莉·莱克在2022年的州长竞选中以微弱劣势落败。她表示，她支持特朗普在堕胎问题上的立场，即他会让各州自行决定。她还声称，她将在参议院反对堕胎问题上的“联邦资助”和“联邦禁令”。
莱克在周二的一份声明中说:“我完全同意特朗普总统的观点——这是一个非常私人的问题，应该由每个州和她的人民决定。”“我反对今天的裁决，我呼吁(州长)凯蒂·霍布斯和州议会立即拿出一个亚利桑那州人可以支持的常识性解决方案。最终，亚利桑那州选民将在11月的投票中做出决定。
然而，莱克也经常说她“100%反对堕胎”，并支持“拯救尽可能多的婴儿”。
上个月，当被问及如果支持堕胎的倡议在亚利桑那州投票时，她将如何投票时，莱克拒绝了这个问题，只是说:“我支持堕胎。”
代表一个摇摆选区的新生众议员胡安·西斯科马尼也称周二的裁决“对妇女和医疗服务提供者来说是一场灾难”——此前他曾赞扬美国最高法院两年前对罗伊案的裁决，并表示他将支持他所在州先前存在的关于堕胎的15周禁令。
“在亚利桑那州，我们的15周法律保护妇女和新生命的权利。它尊重女性和终止妊娠的艰难决定——我永远不会亲身经历，也不会假装理解，”西斯科马尼在X上的一篇帖子中写道，并补充说，“我反对全国堕胎禁令。”领土法已经过时。我们必须为妇女做得更好，我呼吁我们的州决策者以两党合作的方式立即解决这一问题。”
前共和党州长道格·杜西(Doug Ducey)在社交媒体上发帖称，这一决定不是他“首选”的结果，并敦促当选领导人找到“一项可行并反映我们选民的政策”。然而，杜西还任命了支持法院多数意见的四名法官。
“我以州长身份签署了这项为期15周的法律，因为这是一项深思熟虑的政策，也是亚利桑那州人实际上可以就这个非常敏感的问题达成一致的方法，”杜西在x上写道。“今天的裁决不是我想要的结果，我呼吁我们当选的领导人听从人民的意愿，用一项可行的、反映我们选民的政策来解决这个问题。”
共和党策略师巴雷特·马森(Barrett Marson)称这一裁决对亚利桑那州政治具有“重大影响”，并认为这一决定将在11月的选举中产生反响，即使立法者在此期间召开特别会议以在公众影响下修改法律。
“亚利桑那州最高法院的裁决可能是亚利桑那州反堕胎运动的巨大胜利，但这将是短期的。该决定只会在2024年让更多选民支持堕胎倡议，并可能投票给民主党候选人，”马森周二在X上的一系列帖子中表示。“当(州长凯蒂·霍布斯)召开特别会议，开放堕胎权并废除1864年的法律时，共和党人将陷入困境。”
民主党众议员鲁本·加莱戈(Ruben Gallego)预计将在秋季的参议院竞选中与莱克(Lake)交锋，他抓住了她此前称建国前的禁令是一项“伟大的法律”的机会，并向支持者发出了一个筹款宣传，提醒他们作为参议员，他将投票结束阻挠议事规则，作为在全国范围内保护堕胎权利的一种手段，这与莱克不同。
加莱戈在一份声明中说:“这不是亚利桑那州人想要的，女性可能会因此而死亡。”“然而，像Kari Lake这样的极端主义政客又一次强迫自己走进医生的办公室，剥夺了女性自己做出医疗保健决定的权利，”他补充说，“致力于在联邦层面上尽一切努力保护堕胎权利。"
潜在投票倡议势头强劲
选民可能有机会在11月直接参与堕胎权的讨论。
亚利桑那州堕胎权利组织(Arizona for artifact Access)正在努力争取在该州的投票中通过一项包含堕胎权利的宪法修正案。该组织抨击了周二的裁决，但表示这将在该州7月3日的签名截止日期之前激励更多人加入他们的运动。
拟议的修正案将修改亚利桑那州的宪法，禁止该州立法禁止胎儿在怀孕24周左右之前堕胎，并将其他堕胎保护措施纳入法律。
该组织本月早些时候表示，他们已经收集了超过50万个签名——超过了在亚利桑那州大选投票中发起倡议的门槛。
亚利桑那州堕胎权利运动经理谢丽尔·布鲁斯在一份声明中说:“这项裁决将无数亚利桑那州人的生命置于危险之中，剥夺了我们最基本的权利。”“在女性甚至没有投票权之前就实施近乎全面的堕胎禁令，只会进一步证明为什么我们需要政治家和法官干预我们的医疗决策。现在，我们的竞选活动比以往任何时候都更有动力成功通过这项修正案，并一劳永逸地保护亚利桑那州的堕胎权利。”
苏珊·b·安东尼反对堕胎的美国反堕胎组织主席马乔里·丹嫩费尔塞称这一决定是“未出生儿童及其母亲的巨大胜利”，并表示该州的堕胎反对者现在将努力挫败投票倡议。
Dannenfelser在一份声明中说:“反堕胎运动的同情心今天在法庭上取得了胜利，但我们必须继续斗争。”
她说:“霍布斯州长和她的支持堕胎的盟友将投入数百万美元来欺骗选民关于即将到来的修正案，该修正案允许在婴儿能够感到疼痛并在子宫外存活时按需堕胎。”我们必须击败这种极端措施，这种措施将迫使亚利桑那州人支付堕胎费用并取消对妇女的健康保护。"
除了霍布斯，亚利桑那州总检察长克里斯·梅斯也是一名民主党人，她表示不会根据她认为“严厉”的法律起诉任何堕胎提供者。
Arizona abortion ruling, which Democrats decry, splits Republicans and abortion opponents
The Arizona Supreme Court's decision on Tuesdayto uphold a near-total abortion ban predating Arizona's statehoodhas drawn differing reactions from state Republicans who previously claimed to be "100% pro-life" while both local and national Democrats vowed to push to protect abortion access in one of the most politically important states on the 2024 map.
Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to travel to Tucson on Friday for her "Fight for Reproductive Freedoms," where she's expected to continue to squarely blame former President Donald Trump for appointing three of the justices who voted in 2022 to overrule Roe v. Wade's national guarantees to abortion access.
Since then, efforts to either protect or expand abortion rights have succeeded in both red and blue states around the country when put up directly for a vote.
"Arizona just rolled back the clock to a time before women could vote – and, by his own admission, there's one person responsible: Donald Trump," Harris said in a statement on Tuesday.
She argued Trump would sign a federal abortion ban if elected again and "if he has the opportunity," though Trump this week put out a new statement insisting that he wants to leave the choice to individual states -- without specifying what he would do on a national ban.
President Joe Biden, in a statement through the White House, also blasted the Arizona ban, which only has exceptions to save the life of the pregnant woman. Biden called the restrictions "cruel" and the "result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women's freedom."
The ban is temporarily blocked pending a trial court decision. Anyone found guilty of violating the ban will face two to five years in state prison.
Republicans, meanwhile, appear to be walking a tightrope on the issue.
Senate candidate Kari Lake, who narrowly lost the governor's race in 2022, said she supports Trump's stance on abortion, that he'd leave it up to states, and claimed she would oppose both "federal funding" and "federal ban[s]" on abortion in the Senate.
"I wholeheartedly agree with President Trump — this is a very personal issue that should be determined by each individual state and her people," Lake said in a statement Tuesday. "I oppose today's ruling, and I am calling on [Gov.] Katie Hobbs and the State Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support. Ultimately, Arizona voters will make the decision on the ballot come November."
However, Lake also regularly says she's "100% pro-life" and supports "saving as many babies as possible."
Asked last month how she would vote on a pro-abortion access initiative if it made it on the ballot in Arizona, Lake dismissed the question to simply say, "I'm pro-life."
Freshman Rep. Juan Ciscomani, who represents a swing district, also called Tuesday's ruling "a disaster for women and providers" -- after having praised the U.S. Supreme Court decision against Roe two years ago and after having said he'll support a preexisting 15-week ban in his state regarding abortion.
"In Arizona, our 15 week law protected the rights of women and new life. It respected women and the difficult decision of ending a pregnancy - one I will never personally experience and won't pretend to understand," Ciscomani wrote in a post on X, adding, "I oppose a national abortion ban. The territorial law is archaic. We must do better for women and I call on our state policymakers to immediately address this in a bipartisan manner."
Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey posted on social media that the decision was not his "preferred" outcome and urged elected leaders to find "a policy that is workable and reflective of our electorate." However, Ducey also appointed the four justices who supported the court's majority in the opinion.
"I signed the 15-week law as Governor because it is thoughtful policy, and an approach to this very sensitive issue that Arizonans can actually agree on," Ducey wrote on X. "The ruling today is not the outcome I would have preferred, and I call on our elected leaders to heed the will of the people and address this issue with a policy that is workable and reflective of our electorate."
Republican strategist Barrett Marson called the ruling "ground-shifting" for Arizona politics and argued the decision will reverberate through November's elections, even if lawmakers do meet in the meantime for a special session to change the law amid public fallout.
"The Arizona Supreme Court ruling may be a huge victory for the pro-life movement in Arizona, it will be short term. The decision will only bring out more voters in 2024 to approve the abortion initiative and likely vote for Democratic candidates," Marson said in a series of posts on X on Tuesday. "When [Gov. Katie] Hobbs calls a special session to open access to abortion and repeal the 1864 law, Republicans will be in a difficult spot."
Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego, expected to face Lake in the Senate race in the fall, seized on her previously calling the pre-statehood ban a "great law" and sent a fundraising pitch to supporters reminding them that as a senator he would vote to end the filibuster rule as a means to protect abortion access nationwide, unlike Lake.
"This is not what Arizonans want, and women could die because of it," Gallego said in a statement. "Yet again, extremist politicians like Kari Lake are forcing themselves into doctors' offices and ripping away the right for women to make their own healthcare decisions," adding he's "committed to doing whatever it takes to protect abortion rights at the federal level."
Potential ballot initiative gains momentum
Voters may have a chance to weigh in on abortion access directly in November.
Arizona for Abortion Access, which is working to get a constitutional amendment on the state's ballot enshrining abortion access, attacked Tuesday's ruling but said it would motivate more people to join their campaign ahead of the state's July 3 deadline for signatures.
The proposed amendment would amend Arizona's Constitution to prohibit the state from legislating against abortion up until fetal viability, around 24 weeks into pregnancy, and enshrines other abortion protections into law.
The group said earlier this month that they had gathered more than 500,000 signatures -- surpassing the threshold to get an initiative on the Arizona general election ballot.
"This ruling will put the lives of untold Arizonans at risk and robs us of our most basic rights," Arizona for Abortion Access campaign manager Cheryl Bruce said in a statement. "Implementing a near-total abortion ban from before women even had the right to vote only further demonstrates why we need politicians and judges out of our healthcare decisions. Now more than ever, our campaign is driven to succeed in passing this amendment and protecting access to abortion in Arizona once and for all."
The president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, Marjorie Dannenfelser, who opposes abortion, called the decision an "enormous victory for unborn children and their mothers" and indicated abortion opponents in the state will now work to defeat the ballot initiative.
"The compassion of the pro-life movement won in court today, but we must continue to fight," Dannenfelser said in a statement.
"Governor Hobbs and her pro-abortion allies will pour millions into deceiving the voters about the upcoming amendment that permits abortion on demand when babies can feel pain and survive outside the womb," she said. We must defeat this extreme measure that would force Arizonans to pay for abortions and eliminate health protections for women."
Alongside Hobbs, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said she will not prosecute any abortion providers under the law she deemed "draconian."
