Kari Lake Flip-Flops AGAIN On Arizona’s Near-Total Abortion Ban, Now Wants State to Enforce 1864 Law
Idaho Dispatch
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake has held a lot of opinions on abortion, and in an interview by the right-wing Idaho Dispatch, she revealed that she has a new one.
In a video interview that appeared on the site on Sunday, Lake told Idaho Dispatch’s David Pettinger that the 1864 law upheld by the Arizona Supreme Court earlier this month was “unfortunately” not being enforced by the state’s government, led by Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes. She told Pettinger:
The Arizona Supreme Court said this is the law of Arizona, but unfortunately, the people running our state have said we’re not going to enforce it. So it’s really political theater. We don’t have that law as much as many of us wish we did. And what they’re really doing is trying to get us focused on that, when what is going on behind the scenes is they’re pushing for the most extreme, radical abortion law in the country that they’re pushing on Arizona. While we are focused on that, a law that is not being, that won’t be, you know, pursued, and the AG will not push this law, they are behind our backs pushing a law that will be the most extreme in the country, that will call for abortion right up until the point of birth of the baby. And that will not only be the law, it will be cemented into our Arizona constitution.
However, this is not what Lake said after the court’s decision came down. Back then, she said in a statement: “I oppose today’s ruling, and am calling on Katie Hobbs and the State Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support.”
But this was also a change of heart by Lake, who said in 2022 when she was running for governor (which she lost to Hobbs) that the law was “a great law”:
I’m incredibly thrilled that we are going to have a great law that’s already on the books. I believe it’s ARS 13-3603, so it will prohibit abortion in Arizona except to save the life of a mother. And I think we’re going to be paving the way and setting course for other states to follow.
Lake was also incorrect about a law being “pushed” behind the scenes; what is happening is a movement to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November, which exceeded the number signatures it needed. This would put the issue in the hands of the voters rather than the legislature, which has tried and failed to repeal the 1864 law twice. Arizona Democrats signaled on Wednesday that they may mount a third attempt to repeal the law.
