Vice President Kamala Harris is making a campaign stop in Arizona to talk about “reproductive freedom” on Friday—just days after the state’s highest court reinstated a sweeping 1864 ban on abortion so extreme that even some Republicans are blasting it.
Although the campaign reportedly scheduled the swing through Tucson before Tuesday’s ruling, Harris’ appearance will provide Democrats a high-profile opportunity to highlight the GOP’s role in outlawing all Arizona abortions, even in cases of rape or incest, unless the mother’s life is in danger.
The court packed with Republican appointees found that the overturning of Roe v. Wade means the 160-year-old abortion ban that predates Arizona statehood—and carries possible prison time for doctors—is once again enforceable.
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The fear of political backlash among Republicans was palpable.
Kari Lake, the ultra-conservative running for Senate, praised the 1864 ban as a “great law” in 2022. But after the court ruling, she rushed to disavow it, calling on the Democratic governor to come up with a “commonsense” solution.
Since January, Harris has been the campaign’s primary defender of abortion rights on the trail; last month she even became the first vice president to tour an abortion clinic.
But President Joe Biden wasted no time denouncing Tuesday’s court ruling.
“Millions of Arizonans will soon live under an even more extreme and dangerous abortion ban, which fails to protect women even when their health is at risk or in tragic cases of rape or incest,” he said in a statement.
“This cruel ban was first enacted in 1864—more than 150 years ago, before Arizona was even a state and well before women had secured the right to vote. This ruling is a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom,” he said.
