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.

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 19^th 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 19^th 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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