Arizona GOP Sustains Civil War-Era Abortion Ban, Defying Trump

• Trump said last week that Arizona’s near-total ban on abortion, dating back to the Civil War, had gone too far.
• But Republicans on Wednesday ended an effort to repeal it.
• The law makes providing or assisting in an abortion punishable by up to five years in prison.

Arizona Republicans have shut down an attempt by Democrats to repeal a controversial 1864 abortion ban reinstated by the state Supreme Court earlier this month.

Democrats attempted to introduce a bill that would repeal the ban during a legislative session in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, NBC reported. But two votes in favor of discussing the bill failed.

“I would ask everyone in this room to respect the fact that some of us believe that abortion is, in fact, the murder of children,” Republican House Speaker Ben Toma said, according to NBC.

The ban has been pushed back by many in the Republican Party, including former President Donald Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake, who are both seeking re-election later this year. (That said, Lake praised the ban during his campaign for governor two years ago.)

Trump, for his part, said last week that the ban had gone too far. “This will be taken care of,” he said. “And I’m sure the governor and everyone will bring things back to sanity.”

The law effectively prohibits abortion – including in cases of rape and incest – unless the life of the pregnant woman is in danger. This makes providing or assisting someone with an abortion a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

Before the ban, abortions in Arizona were allowed up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.