A ban on nearly all abortions in Arizona doesn鈥檛 sit well with the Republican former governor whose expansion of the state Supreme Court allowed him to appoint the four conservative justices whose ruling cleared the way for it.
Doug Ducey is among Republicans in several states who are wrestling with the consequences of their opposition to abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. He expanded the state court in 2016, but thinks its ruling this week went too far.
After the Arizona court ruled 4-2 on Monday to revive an 1864 law that criminalizes abortion throughout pregnancy unless a woman鈥檚 life is at risk, Ducey posted on the platform X that it was 鈥渘ot the outcome I would have preferred." He said a law he signed in 2022 of pregnancy was more in line with what voters want.
In , and Ohio, where an signed into law by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine got overturned in a referendum the right to an abortion in the state constitution, the issue has helped Democrats win races and in some cases begin to reverse Republican-led bans.
More may be in store. In Florida, the state's high court cleared the way for a that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed while also allowing an abortion-rights referendum this November.
Abortion also is a major feature in the presidential race, potentially boosting turnout for Democrats and putting down-ballot Republicans on a back foot. Polls show most U.S. adults tough restrictions.
Donald Trump, who recently opined that abortion's legality should be left to , has called DeSantis鈥� approval of Florida's ban a " The former president who appointed three of the U.S. Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade also said the Arizona Supreme Court ruling went
Ducey said in his post on X that the ban he signed was 鈥渢houghtful conservative policy, and an approach to this very sensitive issue that Arizonans can actually agree on."
His comment followed the better part of two years of legal wrangling over the 1864 Arizona law.
The Supreme Court ruling took a fair amount of time, four months after arguments before the court and longer than some expected, said Barbara Atwood, professor emerita at the University of Arizona law school.
鈥淔rankly, I think they struggled,鈥� she said of the justices.
Besides Ducey's five appointees, one of whom abstained from the ruling, two are appointees of Jan Brewer, Arizona's Republican governor from 2009-2015.
Ducey had defended his expansion of the court from five to seven justices. He said the state had outgrown the smaller court and an expansion was long expected. The justices at the time said their workload was manageable and opposed the move.
The crux of the abortion case was whether Arizona鈥檚 2022 or 1864 ban applied after Roe v. Wade was overturned. In late 2022, an appeals court rejected the argument of the state鈥檚 elected Republican attorney general, Mark Brnovich, that the 1864 law held sway.
Days later, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes took office, but the case remained alive through the efforts of an anti-abortion intervener.
The legal uncertainty was written into the law outlawing abortion after 15 weeks. It stated that the state鈥檚 much stricter 1864 law was not being repealed 鈥渂y implication or otherwise.鈥�
But even Republicans disagreed over which law would take precedent. In their ruling, the majority justices noted Ducey thought the ban he signed should take effect.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just interesting that justices who he appointed have reached a point that is at odds with his own understanding,鈥� said Atwood. 鈥淚t contributed to the general uncertainty about this whole topic.鈥�
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Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming. J.J. Cooper and Jacques Billeaud in Phoenix contributed to this report.
Mead Gruver, The Associated Press
