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- A near-total abortion ban from 1864 will soon take effect in Arizona.
- GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake bashed the law as "out of step with Arizonans."
- But two years ago, she called the law "great" and said it could pave the way for other states.
Kari Lake, the Trump acolyte and Arizona GOP Senate candidate, says she does not support a near-total ban on abortion that's set to take effect soon in the crucial battleground state.
That law, more than 160 years old, was written when Arizona had not yet become a state and would outlaw abortion in all instances, except to save the life of the mother.
"I have traveled to every corner of this state on the campaign trail," Lake said in a statement on Tuesday. "I speak to more Arizonans than anyone and it is abundantly clear that the pre-statehood law is out of step with Arizonans."
Lake's statement came soon after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the 1864 law, which mandates two to five years in prison for anyone who aids in abortion, was enforceable. However, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has said that she will not enforce the law, which she described as "draconian."
Arizona voters will also get to decide on the issue of abortion rights in a November referendum, and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and the GOP-controlled state legislature could, in theory, seek to change the law.
Yet Lake's stated position on the territorial-era law is a significant reversal from 2022, when she was running for governor of Arizona.
In June of that year, Lake said in a local radio interview that she supported the 1864 law, according to Politifact.
"I'm incredibly thrilled that we are going to have a great law that's already on the books," Lake said in that interview, adding: "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's reversal comes as Republicans more broadly seek to reposition themselves on abortion, given the losses that the GOP has suffered in races and ballot measures across the country since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
As she's mounted her Senate bid, Lake has sought to emphasize her status as a mother and said that she supports efforts to make motherhood easier, moving away from harsher anti-abortion rhetoric that she employed during her failed gubernatorial bid.
And on Monday, former President Donald Trump said that he believed abortion should be left to states to decide, the latest in a series of conflicting positions he's taken on abortion.
Lake is running against Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego in a race that could determine control of the Senate. In a statement, Gallego also bashed the court's ruling while tying it to "extremist politicians like Kari Lake."
Lake isn't the only Republican who's seeking to distance themselves from the law.
Reps. Juan Ciscomani and Dave Schweikert, two Arizona Republicans who face competitive reelection races, also said that they do not support the law and called on Hobbs and the legislature to overturn it.
I do not support today’s ruling from the AZ Supreme Court. This issue should be decided by Arizonans, not legislated from the bench. I encourage the state legislature to address this issue immediately.
— Rep. David Schweikert (@RepDavid) April 9, 2024