Arizona
Donald Trump pushes the panic button on abortion in Arizona
Opinion: It’s not surprising that Trump would pivot on abortion. Now he’s demanding that his most loyal supporters do a U-turn on their principles, too.
Landmark abortion ruling places Arizona at center of national debate
The Briefing: The recent Arizona abortion court ruling has politicians scrambling; more on the timeline for UA president Robert Robbins’ resignation.
On Monday, Donald Trump said he wouldn’t support a federal abortion ban, that it should be up to each state to decide where to draw the line.
On Wednesday, Trump said our particular state — Arizona — “went too far” in returning to a 19th century near-total ban on abortions.
And on Friday, Trump abandoned his states’ rights spiel altogether.
He hit the panic button and called for an immediate repeal of Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban — the one that our GOP-run Legislature intentionally left on the books in early 2022 in the hope that Roe v. Wade would be overturned.
“The Governor and the Arizona Legislature must use HEART, COMMON SENSE and ACT IMMEDIATELY to remedy what has happened … ,” Trump said on Friday in a post on Truth Social. “Arizona Legislature, please act as fast as possible!”
Trump wants abortion hard-liners to change
It’s not surprising that Trump would pivot on the unborn. He’s been on most every side of the abortion issue since 1999 when he pronounced himself pro-choice.
Now, however, he’s calling on his most loyal supporters to do a U-turn on their principles, too. This, to ensure that Arizona, a vital battleground state, doesn’t slip through his — or their — fingers.
That may be an easy call for someone like Kari Lake.
She’s been one of the state’s most ardent pro-life crusaders, yet this week she was calling for abortion to be reinstated before the ink was even dry on the Arizona Supreme Court ruling that revived the 1864 ban.
Several vulnerable Republican legislators — Sens. Shawnna Bolick and T.J. Shope and Rep. Matt Gress — have joined the call for a repeal.
But how do you convince the hard right Republicans who control the Arizona Legislature to abandon their beliefs on such a fundamental level?
That’s not so easy for the Arizona Legislature
Or do they simply hope that Democrats will bail them out by reinstituting abortion for them?
We all saw what happened on Wednesday when Gress tried to engineer a quick repeal of the 19th century ban on the House floor.
Republicans ran like the wind, quickly adjourning so they wouldn’t have to take a position.
In fact, though, they’ve already taken a position. Every Republican in the Legislature touts himself or herself as “100% pro life.”
Abortion law could force: The GOP to fix itself
If they now repeal the 1864 law about to take effect, they make a mockery of their own belief that life begins at conception — that all abortion is murder.
If they put a competing measure on the November ballot, proposing that abortion be legal for up to 15 weeks, they send a message that “the ultimate sin,” as Lake calls it, is OK after all.
In 2022, 92% of abortions in Arizona occurred before 13 weeks, according to the state Department of Health Services. None occurred after 21 weeks.
‘Unacceptable,’ Trump’s strongest supporters say
Now comes Trump — the president who takes credit for the demise of Roe v. Wade — asking pro-life Republicans to allow those abortions to continue. The hypocrisy is stunning.
Some of Trump’s strongest supporters are members of the Legislature’s hard right Arizona Freedom Caucus. They already were dismayed by the calls for repeal from Lake and other vulnerable Republicans.
“Sadly, it seems that some are choosing to reject the fundamental, core principle of protecting life,” the Freedom Caucus said on Tuesday. “Some have chosen instead to jump on the bandwagon to legalize unrestricted abortions for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy — a position that would permit 95% of all existing abortions to continue.
“This is unacceptable, morally wrong, and abrasively out of step with the central tenants of the Republican Party Platform and Republican voters. Murdering children is not a policy disagreement.”
Except, apparently, when it jeopardizes Trump’s reelection chances and their own control of the Legislature?
Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRoberts.
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After the Ole Miss Rebels had a quick exit in the SEC tournament, they now look ahead to the Nebraska regional.
They will be taking on a solid Arizona State team on May 29th in the Lincoln Regional.
The Sun Devils finished their regular season 37-19 and went 19-11 in Big 12 conference games.
What to Expect From Arizona State
Arizona is coming off some of its best baseball after it made it to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament. The Sun Devils are led by Landon Hairston, who set a school record this year with 28 home runs. The sophomore outfielder also hit .413 on the year and was named the 2026 Big 12 player of the year.
In addition, the State lineup includes six hitters who are hitting above .280. Four of those hitters are hitting well into the .300s. This team is a power-hitting team. They finished second in the Big 12 in home runs as a team with 108
The Rebels Ace Hunter Elliot will most likely get the nod for the Rebels against the Sun Devils and will need to bring his ace stuff against a talented Arizona State lineup.
Cole Carlon will most likely be on the bump for the Sun Devils. The Friday starter finished his 2026 regular campaign with a 3.51 ERA and was named to the Big 12 Conference’s first team.
Carlon has shown the ability to go deep into ball games. His best game this year was against Oklahoma State, where he went seven innings and gave up three runs.
In his most recent start against West Virginia, Carlon went five and a third innings and allowed one run.
The Sun Devils start to get shaky when they get to their bullpen. Most of their guys have an ERA above five on the season. In Carlon’s best start against the Cowboys, he was given a no-decision because the Sun Devils bullpen gave up six runs to lose the game 9-6.
The Rebels will look for their lineup to get Carlon’s pitch count high earlier so they can face a Sun Devils bullpen that has struggled this year.
Ole Miss is led by just about the most experience a team could get. Head coach Mike Bianco has coached the Rebels for 24 years now and has seen it all. From national championships to shocking early exits. He will be able to get his team in the right mindset to take on a tough Arizona State baseball club.
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AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas will return to the Women’s College World Series to defend its national title.
The Longhorns capped a 2-1 series win in the super regional round over Arizona State with a 5-0 victory Sunday at McCombs Field. Katie Stewart drove in four runs, and Teagan Kavan hurled a complete-game shutout with five strikeouts.
Austin Super Regional: No. 2 Texas 2, Arizona State 1
The win sends the second-seeded Longhorns back to Devon Park in Oklahoma City, where they claimed the program’s first national championship last season. They’ll face Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday in the double-elimination tournament.
It’s the ninth time the Longhorns have been to the WCWS.
Texas bounced back from a 4-1 loss to open the best-of-3 series on Friday against the Sun Devils, claiming Saturday’s game 4-3 thanks to a pinch-hit 2-run home run in the seventh inning by Victoria Hunter.
Stewart provided the bulk of the offensive punch for the Longhorns, smacking a pair of 2-run singles in the third and sixth innings. Shortstop Vivi Martinez capped a 15-pitch at-bat against Sun Devils pitcher Kenzie Brown with an RBI triple in the fifth to score Kayden Henry. Martinez fouled off 11 pitches during the plate appearance, and then ripped a pitch down the first-base line that rolled all the way to the right-field wall, plating Henry to give Texas a 3-0 lead.
Martinez said she kept telling herself to win each pitch.
“I was just trying to keep it simple,” she said. “She has a great changeup, so I had to be aware of that.”
Kavan kept the Sun Devils off balance, forcing eight groundouts and eight flyouts to go with her strikeouts. She scattered five hits, allowing a 2-out triple to Yannixa Acuna in the fourth on a pop-up that dropped in shallow right field just out of Leighann Goode’s diving catch attempt. With the outfield heavily shifted the opposite way, the ball squirted into foul territory, allowing the speedy Acuna to scamper to third.
After Kavan walked Brooklyn Ulrich, she got Tiare Ho-Ching to ground out to end the inning, escaping the jam unscathed.
“Teagan was lights out. She showed the mindset of a warrior,” Longhorns head coach Mike White said. “The ability to put things that don’t go her way aside, and come out and compete for her team. She loves her team.”
Texas (47-11) was 7-for-19 with runners on and 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Arizona State didn’t have a hit with runners in scoring position, going 0-for-5. Both of Stewart’s 2-run singles came with two outs.
Stewart, Henry and Martinez all had two hits for the Longhorns. Acuna had two hits for the Sun Devils.
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