By Anita Snow and Morgan Lee | Associated Press
PHOENIX — Arizona abortion providers vowed Wednesday to continue service until they’re forced to stop, a pledge that comes day after the state Supreme Court cleared the way for enforcing an 1864 law criminalizing abortion throughout pregnancy unless a woman’s life is at risk.
The court decision rocked the state as women, including physicians, grappled with how to respond to a law that comes without exceptions for rape or incest.
State legislators convened as pressure mounted from Democrats and some Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, for them to intervene. House Democrats and at least one Republican tried to open discussion Wednesday on repealing the 1864 ban, but GOP leaders, who command the majority, shut it down twice and quickly adjourned. Outraged Democrats erupted in chants of “Shame! Shame! Shame!”
Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs earlier called on the Legislature to repeal the ban.
“They could do that today,” she told CBS News. “They could gavel in today and make a motion to repeal this.”
According to AP VoteCast, 6 out of 10 Arizona voters in the 2022 midterm elections said they would favor guaranteeing legal abortion nationwide. The state recorded 11,530 abortions in 2022, the last data available, according to the Department of Health Services.
At Camelback Family Planning in Phoenix, where about one-fourth of Arizona abortions are performed, registered nurse Ashleigh Feiring said abortion services were still available and that staff hope emergency legislation will avoid interruptions or closure.
“Our plan is to stay open as long as possible,” Feiring said. “Our clinic has been shut down twice in the last four years, but we’ve always resumed service.”
At the same time, anti-abortion groups including SBA Pro-Life America urged Arizona residents to oppose a proposed ballot initiative aimed at placing abortion rights in Arizona’s state constitution.
“They…
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