Ariz. governor signs repeal of 1864 abortion ban, but law may still temporarily take effect
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs on Thursday signed repeal legislation of a long dormant, near-total abortion ban that was recently revived by the state Supreme Court, stirring widespread controversy and debate.
"While I'm proud to sign this bill and provide a moment of relief for Arizonans, we still have work to do," she said at a ceremony, flanked by state legislators and abortion access advocates.
Hobbs' signature will reverse the pending reactivation of the restrictive abortion law that dates to 1864 -- but it won't do so immediately.
Instead, the ban, which was ruled last month to be enforceable by the Arizona Supreme Court in light of the U.S. Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade in 2022, cannot be struck down by the new repeal law until 90 days after the Arizona Legislature adjourns its session by the end of June.
However, the Civil War-era law, which bans nearly all abortions with exception only for a woman whose life is in danger, is on track to take effect on June 27, Arizona's attorney general has said.
Hobbs, a Democrat, told ABC News earlier this week she was "hopeful" the legislative adjournment will come in "the next few weeks." The three-month clock on the repeal taking effect could then make for a gap of two or three months wherein the 1864 ban would be law.
“I'm going to fight as hard as I can to make sure that this ban never goes into effect,” Hobbs told reporters on Thursday.
The Arizona attorney general, Democrat Kris Mayes, requested on Tuesday that the state's Supreme Court put on hold its order reviving the 1864 law.
Planned Parenthood filed a similar request on Wednesday that cites "legislative deference," the principle it says the court used to justify its reinstatement of the ban. The women's health advocacy group says it should defer to the Legislature's will after it passed a repeal, with a handful of Republicans joining the Democratic minority in the statehouse.
Once the 1864 ban is repealed, a separate, 15-week ban, that also doesn't make exceptions for rape or incest, will take effect in the state.
Abortion rights activists said they won't be satisfied with such an outcome.
"Unfortunately, Arizonans will still be living under a law that denies us the right to make decisions about our own health. Arizonans cannot afford to celebrate or lose momentum," a spokesperson for Arizona for Abortion Access said after the repeal passed the Senate yesterday.
Voters will likely consider the issue directly in November, as pro-abortion access advocates are pushing a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in Arizona's Constitution. Abortion opponents have been considering their own initiatives to counter this proposal.
Taking questions on Thursday, Hobbs was asked her message to voters who are OK with the 15-week ban but aren’t comfortable with the ballot initiative to enshrine the protections of Roe into the state Constitution. She called both state bans “draconian.”
“The 15-week ban has no exception for rape or incest or regard for the complications of pregnancy. And Arizonans are going to have a chance to have their say in that," she said. "But I think the experience that we just went through in the few weeks since the court ruling is exactly why we should not have government involved in these decisions at all.”
Hobbs also called out the Republicans who joined Democrats in the Legislature to pass the repeal, contending that was “nothing more than political opportunism."
The repeal effort drew vocal objections from many GOP lawmakers in Arizona who said they felt strongly that abortion is equal to murder.
"What's happening right here ... is Republicans are abandoning the Founding Fathers' principles or Republican Party platforms and principles to join with Democrats. ... It is disgusting that is the state of the Republican Party today," state Sen. Jake Hoffman said this week in voting against repeal.
However, some top Republicans who are anti-abortion, including Donald Trump, said they felt the 1864 ban went too far.
ABC News' Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
