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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Arizona Republicans weigh options to defeat abortion rights ballot
measure, draft proposal reveals
By Arit John, CNN
Updated:
8:47 PM EDT, Mon April 15, 2024
Source: CNN
Arizona Republicans are weighing their options to defeat a potential
abortion rights ballot initiative this fall, including offering
measures of their own that could draw support away from efforts to
enshrine access to the procedure in the state constitution, according
to a obtained by CNN.
Under the proposal, Republicans could introduce two ballot initiatives
that would restrict abortion to either six weeks or the beginning of
the 15th week of pregnancy.
The proposal, drafted by Linley Wilson, the general counsel to Arizona
House Republicans, comes days after the Arizona Supreme Court revived a
. Arizona for Abortion Access, a coalition of abortion rights
advocates, has gathered more than 500,000 signatures to put a
constitutional amendment on the November ballot that would protect
abortion until fetal viability, which doctors believe is around 22 to
24 weeks.
Arizona Republicans have been under intense pressure to address
abortion rights following last week’s state Supreme Court decision,
which revived an 1864 law that bans abortion except to save the life of
the pregnant person and threatens doctors with two- to five-year prison
sentences.
“The document presents ideas drafted for internal discussion and
consideration within the caucus,” House GOP Speaker Ben Toma said in
a statement. “I’ve publicly stated that we are looking at options
to address this subject, and this is simply part of that.”
The memo suggests that one of the “pros” of the strategy would be
to make it “more likely that the [Arizona for Abortion Access]
Initiative will fail” due to the vote being split, Wilson wrote. One
downside, she added, would be that the initiatives would “transfe[r]
regulation of abortion from the Legislature to voters.”
The ballot initiatives mentioned were part of a multiphase approach
designed to either block the passage of the Arizona for Abortion Access
initiative or protect lawmakers’ ability to regulate abortion access.
Abortion rights groups have had success with ballot initiatives put to
voters since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The
memo references several ballot initiatives abortion rights advocates
are seeking to pass across the country, including the one in Arizona.
Arizona for Abortion Access blasted the draft strategy memo, calling it
a political scheme designed to create chaos.
“This shows yet again why Arizonans can’t leave our most basic and
personal rights in the hands of politicians,” the group said in a
statement.
In the wake of the state Supreme Court decision last week, House
Republicans gaveled out early to block Democrats from rolling back the
ban. The legislature is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday.
Republicans in competitive races in the state, including former
President Donald Trump and Senate candidate Kari Lake, have called on
the GOP-led legislature to work with Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs on a
fix.
But the proposal sent by Wilson would take Republicans down a different
path. It argues Republicans should pursue a “Phase One” and
consider “Phase Two” to change the “narrative” and show the
party has a “plan,” as well as “potentially pull votes from
[Arizona for Abortion Access] Initiative.”
Under the proposed Phase 1, lawmakers would first add a measure to the
November ballot that would allow lawmakers to regulate certain
practices, including requiring parental consent or a court order for
minors seeking abortions and only allowing physicians to perform the
procedure, which would exist alongside the fetal viability amendment.
Under the proposed Phase 2, the legislature would refer the six-week
ban and a second measure the memo describes as “a 14-week law
disguised as a 15-week law because it would only allow abortion until
the beginning of the 15th week.”
The proposal also includes an alternative to Phase 2, under which
lawmakers would refer a conditional enactment of the abortion rights
ballot initiative, stating it is “not absolute,” and allow for laws
regulating abortion for reasons including the “mitigation of fetal
pain.”
Any ballot initiative referred by the Republican-led legislature would
not need the signature of Hobbs. But it’s not clear if Republicans,
who hold razor thin majorities in the state House and Senate, will have
enough support to enact the plan laid out.
The memo, however, ends with a meme featuring talk show host Seth
Meyers that says: “Boom. Easy as that.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
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