Tellingly, before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, conservatives in Arizona were already discussing what law would frame abortion in this state after Roe.
Cathi Herrod, president of the conservative Center for Arizona Policy, argued that a territorial-era law banning abortion would set the rules and penalties. Governor Doug Ducey argued that a state law passed earlier this year would become the guiding principle. It bans abortions after 15 weeks and will become law on September 24.
I have written about the problems of abortion extremism in the Democratic Party that ignores all the hard moral questions of pursuing abortion without restrictions, without apologies.
Now Republican extremism is in full swing as the party’s far right fools itself that a conservative Supreme Court has given them total victory over abortion and unconditional surrender to their enemies.
It’s not.
Soon those Republicans will run head-on into a boulder called consensus that is nowhere near where these Republicans are on the issue of reproductive rights. Right-wing Republicans can continue to ban any abortion that can be banned, but they will soon be sobered if they start losing elections.
Americans are in the midst of abortion
Throughout Roe’s 50-year tenure, American views have settled on a sort of centerpiece of abortion. Keep it safe and legal, but with some restrictions. In reality, 43 states had set limits on legal abortion at certain times during pregnancy, the Washington Post reported.
The Roberts court was right to abandon Roe v. Wade for fabricating an abortion right that never existed in the Constitution. Roe had bumped into his own boulder.
A broad consensus had formed left and right among Supreme Court scholars and onlookers that Roe was indefensible. Michael Kinsley, an icon in left-wing political commentary, wrote that for decades Roe has been understood to be “a jumble of bad reasoning and an authentic example of judicial violation.”
The Roberts court handed the abortion issue back to state lawmakers to resolve on their own. This is what the Blackmun court should have done 50 years ago.
Anti-abortion law should not fool itself
If you’re an anti-abortion rights activist in Arizona, don’t let yourself believe that Roe’s death is a fait accompli for Arizona – that abortion will now be illegal in Arizona forever.
One politician who inhaled those fumes appeared to be Arizona Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Brnovich, who has said on social media that he believes that Arizona will return to an 1864 territorial ban on all abortions. “Brnovich has said he would ask a court to lift the ban on the 1864 Act,” reported Ananya Tiwari of the Republic of Arizona, “but has not yet done so.”
Two Arizona House Republicans, Representatives Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek, and Jacqueline Parker, R-Mesa, tried to rush Republican leadership into the closing hours of the legislative session with a plan to “explicitly ban abortion,” Ray reported. of the Republic. Strict.
Last minute press: 2 Republican Lawmakers Argue Over Abortion Ban
Rejected by House Majority Leader Ben Toma, R-Peoria, Hoffman suggested that Toma was willing to let the unborn die before the latest state law governing abortion goes into effect.
“I’m not going to argue with you about that,” Toma said. “I’m more pro-life than you’ll ever be. Not only that, but I’ve done more to help life than you ever will.”
It will hit the rock of the popular consensus
If enthusiastic proponents of abortion bans like Hoffman and Parker continue down this road, they will hit the boulder, which Pew Research Center says: in this way:
“Today, a majority of 61% of American adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37% believe abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.”
Today’s question is, “Will abortion be legal in Arizona?”
If your answer is a firm “yes,” you’ll help build new coalitions of Democrats, independents, and Republican moderates that will do whatever it takes to keep it legal.
The shrewd Kris Mayes, Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Arizona, has already made it a major theme in her campaign. “The far right doesn’t care about women at all. And they certainly don’t care about the privacy of Arizonans. I want to be very clear – not on my watch.”
Ultimately, the question in Arizona will become, “What will be the restrictions on abortion?”
The 15-week ban is defensible. Many European countries (more liberal than the United States) prohibited abortion after 12-14 weeks, reports The Wall Street Journal. It may need to be modified or rewritten to succeed after Roe, but for Republicans it avoids the head-on collision with the boulder.
The beauty of democracy is that when it is allowed to work, consensus is reached and extremists in both parties are left out in the cold.
Where they belong.
Phil Boas is an editorial columnist for The Arizona Republic. Mail him to [email protected]†
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GOP Hardliners May Want To Ban All Abortions, But They Will Lose