Yesterday, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the law from the Civil War era that criminalized abortion for women in the mid-nineteenth century. This has caused Republicans to freak out about the thing they told us they were in favor of for the past 50 years.
Republican Kari Lake on Tuesday denounced an Arizona Supreme Court ruling reviving a near-total ban on abortion in the state — a law she previously praised as a gubernatorial candidate less than two years ago.
Written when Arizona had not yet become a state, the 1864 law forbids abortions except to save a mother’s life. It makes no exceptions for rape or incest and makes performing an abortion punishable by two to five years in prison.
Lake, who’s now running for U.S. Senate in Arizona, said in a statement the law was “out of step with Arizonans.”
“I oppose today’s ruling, and I am calling on [Gov.] Katie Hobbs and the state Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support,” Lake said. “Ultimately, Arizona voters will make the decision on the ballot come November.”
But Lake backed the law while on the campaign trail for governor of Arizona in 2022. In one interview, she identified the pre-statehood law by number, and said she was “thrilled that we are going to have a great law that’s already on the books” in the event the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
I get that Kari Lake thinks this issue will hurt her and her race for the Senate this November. And I get that she thinks that after President Trump's statement earlier this week, she thinks she needs to temper her anti-abortion rhetoric from two years ago.
I get ALL that, but... here's the thing...
- You're either against abortion or you're not.
- You're either in favor of states' rights on abortion or you're not.
- You either stand for the things you said you stand for, or you don't.
Voters will forgive your stance on an issue they disagree with if they know you're a person of integrity, values, and principles and your position comes from a genuine place that reflects your character. On the other hand, if you publicly state one, strong, unequivocal position on an issue as fundamental as abortion, and then you reverse course JUST TWO YEARS LATER, you'll forgive us for thinking you're a manipulative, opportunistic, political hack.
And don't get me wrong, I don't think Kari Lake is a manipulative, opportunistic, political hack... but her flip-flop on this makes her look like a manipulative, opportunistic, political hack.
Meanwhile, President Trump's statement calling for states to work this issue out through their legislatures and the input of the voters is in perfect harmony with the abolition of Roe. This is exactly what the country after Roe looks like. And it is now incumbent on pro-life politicians to lead us in this next stage.
I'm just not sure their capable of it.
For too long, Republicans got away with "I'm against Roe" on they didn't have to say or do anything else. Now that Roe is gone, they need to stand for something, and they need to know how to defend what they stand for. If they aren't capable of that, they should get off the public stage because they're doing more harm than good.
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