, the framing has shifted to whether abortion should be legal at all,” a position so alarming to most Americans that support for abortion in at least some circumstances soared to 85 percent in aUntil the repeal of, the underlying procedure was presumed legitimate, and the debate was about regulations at the margin. Arizona has a strong libertarian streak, which also works to the governor’s advantage.
She is battling cases related to an 1864 law which bans abortion and was put in place before Arizona was a state—and before women could even vote. Abortion is center stage in a state that is pivotal to next year’s presidential election, and to the Senate majority with Sen. Kyrsten Sinema potentially running for re-election as an independent.
She is relying on the state’s Constitution, written during the Teddy Roosevelt progressive era, which has an explicit privacy clause, “Article 3, Section 8,” she says. “It hasn’t been tested,” she notes, then adding that the fate of abortion care will be decided in the form of a ballot initiative as early as next year, “and Arizonans like most Americans will reject these draconian abortion bans.”