The Arizona Senate is expected on Wednesday to attempt to pass a repeal of the near-total ban on abortion from 1864 that was upheld by the battleground state’s Supreme Court last month.
If the bill, which the state House approved last week, passes the upper chamber, it would head to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs for a signature.
The state Senate is scheduled to gavel in at 1:00 p.m. ET, and could vote at any time during the session on a repeal of the Civil War-era law that has the power to send a doctor to prison for providing nearly any kind of abortion care.
The session comes one week after the state House voted to repeal the ban on its third attempt in as many weeks. Three Republicans joined 29 Democrats in that vote in the narrowly divided chamber, giving the measure enough support to advance.
If Arizona state senators are able to overcome procedural hurdles on Wednesday and move to vote on a repeal — after the bill comes on the floor for a “third reading,” as is required under chamber rules — they are expected to pass it.
Republicans control of the Senate, but Democrats have signaled they will get votes in the closely divided chamber from two Republican state senators — potentially Shawnna Bolick and T.J. Shope — that they need to pass the repeal.
Earlier this month, members of the state Senate voted in favor of a motion to introduce a repeal bill. Two Republicans joined every Democrat in the chamber on that vote.
Passage of the bill by both chambers wouldn’t guarantee a repeal of the abortion law would quickly go into effect.
The bill would still have to go to Hobbs, who has said she would sign it, though Republicans could potentially delay transmission of the bill to her office.
In addition, under the Arizona state Constitution, repeals of laws don’t go into effect until 90 days after a legislative session concludes. Arizona doesn’t have a fixed legislative calendar, meaning Republicans could keep the session open with the intent to further delay the implementation of a repeal.
Last year’s session ended in late July, so if this year’s session ended at a similar time, the repeal would not be implemented until late October or early November.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said Tuesday that the 1864 ban would go into effect on June 27 — not June 8 as her office initially said — citing her office’s interpretation of state Supreme Court procedural rules.
As a result, the ban is likely to go into effect for a period of time, even if the Senate passes a repeal on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s state Senate session is the latest chapter in the fight over abortion rights in the crucial battleground following the Arizona Supreme Court’s bombshell ruling last month.
The conservative-leaning court ruled a law making abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs one or helps a woman obtain one is enforcable. The law was codified in 1901 — and again in 1913, after Arizona gained statehood — and outlaws abortion from the moment of conception but includes an exception to save the woman’s life.
A fully implemented repeal of the 1864 ban would likely result in state policy reverting to a 15-week ban on abortions passed in 2022 that makes exceptions for medical emergencies but not for rape or incest.
The continuing saga has raised the stakes around a constitutional amendment that is all but certain to appear on the Arizona ballot this November that would allow voters to decide on the future of abortion rights in the state themselves.
Organizers are likely to succeed in placing the proposed amendment that would create a “fundamental right” to receive abortion care up until fetal viability, or about the 24th week of pregnancy. If voters approve the ballot measure, it would effectively undo both the 1864 near-total ban and the 15-week ban.
But the state Supreme Court decision prompted Republicans to also discuss a series of possible contingencies, including pushing alternative ballot measures to compete with the pro-abortion rights proposed amendment.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
