Unbelievable! Arizona resurrects an 1864 law to ban all abortions

Remember 1864? The Civil War was still raging, as Confederate states fought to preserve slavery. It would be several more decades before women had the right to vote. And even more decades before the U.S. would enact its first ban against child labor.

As for health care in 1864, “physicians were practicing in an era before the germ theory of disease was established, before sterile technique and antisepsis were known, with very few effective medications. This era is often referred to in a negative way as the Middle Ages of medicine in the United States.”

Yes, that’s 1864. You wouldn’t think that would be a time where anyone would want to go to seek guidance for civil rights and health care. But you would be wrong. That’s exactly where the Arizona Supreme Court decided to go. In one of the most outrageous and devastating decisions ever handed down, the Arizona Supreme Court just reinstated an 1864 law that effectively outlaws all abortions…full stop…except to save a woman’s life. Anyone who provides or aids in providing an abortion could go to prison for up to five years!!

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes called the ruling “unconscionable” and “an affront to freedom.”

Gov. Katie Hobbs wrote: “It is a dark day in Arizona. We are just fourteen days away from one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country. But my message to Arizona women is this: I won’t rest, and I won’t stop fighting until we have secured the right to abortion.”

And who do we have to blame for all of this? Donald J. Trump. As Robert Reich aptly put it:

“The Arizona Supreme Court based its decision on the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe. The Arizona court stated that because the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion, there is now no federal or state law stopping Arizona from enforcing its old near-total abortion ban, which had sat dormant for decades. Hence, without a federal right, Arizona has no choice but to enforce the law on the books. It’s all Trump’s doing.”

Trump is the one who promised to stack the U.S. Supreme Court with Justices that would overturn Roe v. Wade. He did so. They did so. And that left it up to each state to decide what to do next. This is what Arizona decided to do.

What can you do?

The only glimmer of good news is that there will almost certainly be a ballot measure this fall to restore the right to an abortion in Arizona:

“In Arizona, the political fallout of Tuesday’s ruling could be extensive. Biden has put abortion rights at the center of his campaign, as has Democratic Senate candidate Ruben Gallego. It will intensify efforts by abortion rights advocates to put a ballot measure in front of voters that would restore the right to an abortion.

“This will supercharge signature collection,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible, which is involved in the effort to add an Arizona ballot measure this fall enshrining the constitutional right to abortion.

Levin said the groups collecting signatures have already collected the 384,000 valid signatures needed by July 4. Now, he said, they’re aiming to hit 800,000 signatures by July.”

Yup, the AP article quoted above is talking about us, Indivisible. We are at the forefront of the fight here. As you’re reading this, over 1,600 Indivisible volunteers are collecting signatures and more volunteers are signing up every day. This latest assault on our rights by MAGA judges and politicians has fired up our volunteers, and they’re ready to collect the hundreds of thousands of signatures we need to guarantee abortion rights make it on the ballot.

Your donations can help make sure abortion rights are restored in Arizona this fall…and that Biden defeats Trump in this critical battleground state. The time to act is now!

Update: April 10: The Republican-dominated Arizona state legislature blocked an attempt by Democrats to strike down the law. But, lest you think that all Republicans are behind this law, Kari Lake came out in opposition to it. Yup. that Kari Lake, the one who had previously endorsed the law. Even Trump is backpedalling. Today is apparently “Watch Republicans Squirm Day.”