Vice President Kamala Harris is heading to Arizona to promote the killing of the unborn following a historic ruling from the state supreme court upholding an 1864 law that bars nearly all abortions.
The Biden-Harris reelection campaign announced that Kamala Harris is visiting Tucson on Friday for an event focusing on “reproductive freedom” following the ruling, the Arizona Republic reported.
Harris is returning to Arizona after appearing in Phoenix in early March as a part of her pro-abortion tour around the United States ahead of the November presidential election, according to the report. During the tour, Harris decried Arizona’s previous 15-week abortion limit passed in 2022 and called pro-life advocates “extremists.”
“Arizona is considered a swing state in the upcoming presidential election. In 2020, Harris and President Joe Biden beat Trump in the state by less than half a percentage point,” the report notes. “The White House has ramped up its presence in Arizona accordingly. The president, vice president, both of their spouses and several other campaign surrogates have visited Arizona since the beginning of March.”
The 1864 law bars all abortions except to save the life of the mother and also carries a sentence of two to five years for abortionists. Justices heard arguments in the case, Planned Parenthood of Arizona v. Mayes/Hazerigg, in December and were asked to answer whether Arizona’s 15-week abortion limit overrides the older law.
While the court did not rule on the constitutionality of the 1864 law, the court issued a 4-2 decision with one recusal on Tuesday finding that the 1864 law is “enforceable” over the newer 15-week limit.
President Joe Biden speaks about the importance of electing Democrats who want to restore abortion rights, during an event hosted by the Democratic National Committee at the Howard Theatre in Washington, DC, October 18, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“We consider whether the Arizona Legislature repealed or otherwise restricted [the old law] by enacting … the statute proscribing physicians from performing elective abortions after fifteen weeks’ gestation,” Justice John Lopez wrote for the majority opinion. “This case involves statutory interpretation—it does not rest on the justices’ morals or public policy views regarding abortion; nor does it rest on [the old law’s] constitutionality, which is not before us.”
“Absent the federal constitutional abortion right, and because [the fifteen-week limit] does not independently authorize abortion, there is no provision in federal or state law prohibiting [the 1864 law’s] operation. Accordingly, [the 1864 law] is now enforceable,” Lopez continued.
The Arizona Supreme Court ultimately affirmed a lower court’s decision vacating an injunction against the near-total ban but stayed the total enforcement of the law for 14 days to allow for parties to decide how to pursue further action. The state’s high court also remanded the case to trial court for potential consideration of remaining constitutional challenges.
The state supreme court decision comes as pro-abortion activists are moving forward with a proposed amendment that would create a constitutional right to abortion in Arizona.
Arizona for Abortion Access — a coalition of groups including ACLU of Arizona, Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Health, Arizona List, Healthcare Rising Arizona, NARAL Arizona, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona — said last week that they had amassed more than 500,000 signatures, well past the 383,923 required for the proposed amendment to qualify for the ballot in November. If the abortion measure makes it on the November ballot, it would need a simple majority to pass.
Arizona is one of nearly a dozen states where pro-abortion activists are working to codify the right to kill the unborn.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
