Arizona Republicans refused to vote on a bill to repeal the state’s extreme abortion ban Wednesday, a day after Republicans—including President Donald Trump—attempted to distance themselves from the decision.
State Rep. Matt Gress (R) moved Wednesday to bring a Democratic bill repealing the ban, which outlaws all abortions except to save the life of the mother, to a House vote. Before a vote could be called, Rep. David Livingston motioned for a recess and all Republicans in the House—including Gress—voted to table the proceedings.
Democrats in the House chanted “Shame!” at their Republican counterparts as voting rapidly came to a close.
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In a livestream after the session ended, Rep. Analise Ortiz (D) said Republicans moved to recess so they “would not have to be on the record voting to repeal the abortion ban.”
“We did not go down without a fight,” she added. “We made sure they knew this was shameful, that they have blood on their hands for the women who will die.”
The vote came one day after the Arizona Supreme Court overturned the state’s existing 15-week abortion ban and greenlit the near-total ban from 1864 instead. That decision was met with protest from both Democrats and Republicans—including Trump, who agreed Wednesday that the court had gone “too far,” despite previously saying abortion laws should be left up to the states.
Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake also slammed the decision in a statement Tuesday, calling it “out of step with Arizonans,” despite calling the ban a “great law” in 2022. Anti-abortion legislators Juan Ciscomani and David Schweikert also condemned the ban and called on the state legislature to address it immediately.
Instead, House lawmakers returned from the recess and voted to adjourn for the day, ensuring there would be no immediate vote on the bill. Republican leaders in the Senate removed a similar bill from the day’s agenda, the New York Times reported.
Lake, Ciscomani, and Schweikert were silent on the scrapped vote.
The resurrection of the 1864 ban is an albatross for Republicans, some of whom have voted against abortion rights in the past but are worried about that position could harm them in the coming elections. Abortion rights groups in the state say they have enough signatures to put a constitutional amendment on abortion on the ballot in November, which experts say could drive turnout for Democrats.
“Matt Gress is running scared because he knows if this ban is in place, he has a hard time winning his election,” Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, the lead sponsor of the repeal bill, told reporters on the House floor. “So he wants this narrative out there that he is somehow the savior of women. He is not.”
The Democratic campaign arm immediately called on voters to turn out in response to the abandoned vote. Sen. Priya Sundareshan, co-chair of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee for Arizona, said in a statement that Democrats needs to “flip the legislature so that we can codify Roe and stop Republicans from taking away this right ever again.”
The state Supreme Court said the near-total ban, which was passed before Arizona even became a state, would take effect 14 days from the decision. Planned Parenthood of Arizona, however, argues it has 45 days before it must suspend operations.
