A ban from literally two centuries ago (the middle of the 1800s) is heading off the books in Arizona with a recent repeal signed by the state’s Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.
The process culminated after a ruling from the state’s own Supreme Court in favor of the antiquated ban, which in turn followed the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022. That case had provided national legal protections for abortion, and in its absence, state legislators and others became free to pursue their own agendas on access to the procedure.
Even some on the Right expressed discontent after the Arizona ruling boosting that centuries-old ban, though Donald Trump’s latest claimed stance of prioritizing individual states’ decision-making on abortion suggests support for the most intense of the restrictions alongside alternatives. And Trump has expressed pride in the nation’s highest court undoing Roe v. Wade, which it did with three of his nominees on the nine-member bench. All three of them were in favor of the move, which (indirectly) pushed what are now millions of Americans under harsh restrictions on care.
“Today, we are doing what 23 governors and 55 legislatures refused to do, and I am so proud to be the ones that got the job done,” Hobbs said on the occasion of her signing that repeal. “Today, we should not rest, but we should recommit to protecting women’s bodily autonomy, their ability to make their own healthcare decisions, and the ability to control their lives. Let me be clear: I will do everything in my power to protect our reproductive freedoms, because I trust women to make the decisions that are best for them, and know politicians do not belong in the doctor’s office.”
Hobbs won by only a very small margin in the 2022 elections, replacing a Republican as Arizona’s governor.
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
