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       lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
       
       
       ARTICLE VIEW: 
       
       Arizona Senate keeps effort to repeal abortion ban in play
       
       By Andy Rose, CNN
       
       Updated: 
       
       8:19 AM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
       
       Source: CNN
       
       A bill that would repeal  was successfully introduced in the state
       Senate on Wednesday after the Republican-controlled House of
       Representatives .
       
       The Senate effort was rescued with the help of two Republicans, state
       Sens. T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, who sided with Democrats in the
       GOP-controlled chamber to allow the bill to go forward by a vote of 16
       to 14. The bill, which required a special vote since it was filed after
       the legislature’s normal deadline, must still move through the full
       legislative process in the Senate, which requires consideration for
       three days before a final vote and potential move to the House.
       
       Last week, the state Supreme Court  Arizona politics by reviving the
       Civil War-era law, saying that the 2022 decision by the US Supreme
       Court to overturn Roe v. Wade left nothing to block the state law
       from being enforced. Since then, failed efforts by the Arizona
       legislature to repeal the ban have frustrated abortion rights activists
       and Democrats, as well as GOP candidates in competitive races who have
       been scrambling to distance themselves from the court’s decision.
       Some Republicans, including former President Donald Trump , have
       called on the GOP-controlled legislature to work with Democratic Gov.
       Katie Hobbs to take a more moderate path.
       
       Earlier Wednesday, in the state House following two attempts to
       discuss a bill that would repeal Arizona’s 1864 ban on abortions,
       lawmakers voted not to discuss the measure on the floor. The
       representatives’ votes were evenly split, with the chair making the
       tie-breaking decision. The bill itself was not brought up for a vote.
       
       “The last thing we should be doing today is rushing a bill through
       the legislative process to repeal a law that has been enacted and
       affirmed by the legislature several times,” House Speaker Ben Toma
       said during debate.
       
       If the 1864 law were repealed, Arizona would revert back to a 15-week
       abortion restriction signed into law in 2022 by then-Gov. Doug Ducey, a
       Republican. The state court delayed enforcement of the ban for at
       least 14 days to allow plaintiffs to challenge it, meaning abortions
       are still allowed in the state.
       
       The ban prohibits the procedure except to save the life of the
       pregnant person and threatens providers with prison sentences between
       two and five years.
       
       If the 1864 law goes into effect,  that have passed near total
       abortion bans, some with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.
       
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