Arizona’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the state’s 1864 law banning all abortions, except to save the life of the mother, is now, enforceably, the law of the land. It is now a felony for a doctor—or anyone else—to assist a woman getting an abortion, punishable by two to five years in prison.
This is exactly what Arizona Republicans had in mind when, in 2022, the GOP-majority legislature passed a bill restricting nearly all abortions to within 15 weeks. However, included in that bill is a provision that essentially rescinded the 15-week law if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Once Roe was done away with, Republicans and anti-abortion groups sued to enforce the 1864 ban.
It is unlikely the legislature will pass an updated law this session. There will be an abortion initiative on the ballot in November to create a constitutional amendment enshrining the provisions of Roe v. Wade into law. If passed—and polls show Arizonans are greatly in favor of guaranteeing abortion rights—Arizona will legalize abortion and keep it out of reach of future legislative meddling with individual rights.
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This decision highlights how extreme Arizona’s MAGA legislative majority has become, but it isn’t the only example.
With a one-seat Republican majority in both the House and Senate, the legislature recently passed a bill that will allow teachers in public and charter K-12 schools to post and read the Ten Commandments in class.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Anthony Kern—a candidate for the U.S. Congress, currently under investigation as one of Donald Trump’s “fake electors” that falsely asserted Trump won the state in 2020—now moves to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk, where a veto is expected.
The U.S. Supreme Court previously ruled in Stone v. Graham (1980) that requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in public schools is unconstitutional. But Kern argues, facetiously, that his bill is constitutionally sound because it merely allows for the option to post or read the Ten Commandments in public schools.
For those not intimately familiar with Arizona politics, the state’s legislature is controlled by the state’s version of the U.S. Congress’ Freedom Caucus—the regular source of MAGA culture war bills and rhetoric. Given the GOP’s narrow majority in Arizona, many of these bills are stopped in committee or vetoed by Gov. Hobbs.
Arizona’s Freedom Caucus tends to focus on long-debunked election fraud conspiracy theories, but it also produces severe legislation that the vast majority of Arizonans oppose.
For example, the GOP-led legislature recently passed House Bill 2843 that would allow property owners to shoot and kill undocumented immigrants who simply walk across their property. This followed a border property owner’s arrest after he allegedly shot and killed an undocumented migrant walking on his land. Gov. Hobbs vetoed the bill this week.
Also this week, some MAGA legislative extremists were rolling on the Senate floor and speaking in tongues as they prayed for their bills to pass.
This encapsulates the MAGA GOP’s extremism, and what it looks like to everyday Arizonans.
The GOP’s one-seat majority requires every Republican in both houses to approve these extreme bills, and the pressure on each Republican legislator to “stay on the team” is immense. Legislators who strayed in the past have faced primary opponents from the right, and they often lose to these insurgents.
Arizona Democrats are working to gain a majority in both houses for the first time in decades, and many Republicans argue the MAGA-led legislature is playing into Democratic hands by passing the Ten Commandments bill and pushing for the Civil War-era near-total ban on abortion.
Thus far in 2024, Gov. Hobbs has vetoed over 20 bills, providing a stark contrast between real governing and the MAGA craziness that may upend the legislature next year.
And it seems some Republicans know it. Big Lie proponent and U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake—who once called abortion “the ultimate sin”—said on Tuesday that she opposes the new/old ban and called on the governor and legislature to “come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support.” Gee, isn’t that nice.
When voters see the sheer madness of the MAGA party, Democrats may have their best opportunity to win both state houses for the first time in decades and become the majority party in Arizona.
