Donald Trump said the Arizona Supreme Court overstepped when it ruled Tuesday that a 160-year-old law criminalizing most abortions can go into effect.
Asked by reporters outside his plane Wednesday in Georgia if the ruling in Arizona “went too far”, Trump replied: “Yeah they did, and that will be straightened out.”
“As you know, it’s all about states’ rights,” he continued, saying he believes Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) will “bring it back into reason”. He did not explain what he thought a reasonable restriction would be.
His remarks echo a murky statement he made on abortion days earlier that left voters wondering whether he would support a federal ban pushed by members of his party. But shortly after speaking to reporters outside his plane, Trump said he wouldn’t sign a national abortion ban if elected.
Arizona’s 1864 law is a near-total ban on abortion at every stage of pregnancy that only makes exceptions to save the pregnant person’s life, overriding a 15-week ban that went into effect in 2022. Abortion providers who violate the law could face two to five years in prison.
The law does not immediately go into effect, as the Arizona court stayed it for 14 days to allow a lower court to hear additional arguments.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes vowed Tuesday that she would not enforce such an “unconscionable” and “draconian law” during her term even if the law were to be enacted.
“Today’s decision to reimpose a law from a time when Arizona wasn’t a state, the Civil War was raging, and women couldn’t even vote will go down in history as a stain on our state,” Mayes said in a statement. “This is far from the end of the debate on reproductive freedom, and I look forward to the people of Arizona having their say in the matter.”
A coalition of reproductive rights groups is spearheading an effort to ask the residents of Arizona to vote on adding an amendment protecting abortion to the state’s constitution. They said last week they’ve collected enough signatures for the amendment to appear on the ballot this November.
Trump’s remarks come two days after he issued a vague statement on abortion rights, seemingly responding to pressure he clarify his stance on the issue before officially becoming the GOP nominee for president. In a video he posted to social networking site Truth Social, Trump took credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and said he thinks abortion rights should remain up to the states.
“My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint. The states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state,” he said in the video.
Though he clarified Wednesday he wouldn’t sign a national abortion ban, he’s yet to offer an opinion on attempts to limit access to the drug mifepristone ― the most common method of terminating pregnancies.
Following Trump’s statements Wednesday, President Joe Biden’s campaign emphasised that Trump cannot be trusted on abortion and questioned the veracity of his promise not to sign a national abortion ban.
“Trump lies constantly ― about everything ― but has one track record: banning abortion every chance he gets,” communications director Michael Tyler said. “The guy who wants to be a dictator on day one will use every tool at his disposal to ban abortion nationwide, with or without Congress, and running away from reporters to his private jet like a coward doesn’t change that reality.”