Conflict Alerts # 629, 3 May 2024
Dhriti Mukherjee In the news
On 2 May, Arizona's Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs signed a bill repealing the state's 1864 abortion law, which was set to take effect within weeks.
On 1 May, the Arizona Senate voted 16-14 to repeal the abortion ban after two Republican senators voted in favour of repealing the ban.
Earlier on 9 April, Arizona's Supreme Court ruled that the 160-year-old abortion law could go back into effect and ruled 4-2 in favour of making the law "enforceable" within 14 days. This ban would ban all abortions, except in cases of rape or incest, and could lead to doctors being prosecuted in the state.
Following the repeal, on 2 May, Hobbs stated: "Today, I am glad to see the Senate answered my call and voted to repeal Arizona's 1864 total abortion ban, and I look forward to quickly signing the repeal into law. This total abortion ban would have jailed doctors, threatened the lives of women across our state and stripped millions of Arizonans of their bodily autonomy."
Arizona's Attorney General Kris Mayes stated on 1 May after the Senate vote: "Rest assured, my office is exploring every option available to prevent this outrageous 160-year-old law from ever taking effect."
Separately, on 1 May, Florida's ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy went into effect after the state's top court ruled 6-1 that the state's constitution did not apply to abortion access. Justices upheld Florida's existing 15-week abortion ban, which had been passed in 2022. The ban had been signed into law by Florida's Republic Governor Ron DeSantis in 2023; however, the bill was placed on hold till the 15-week ban had cleared legal challenges. In a separate ruling, Florida's Supreme Court decided 4-3 that a proposed constitutional amendment protecting access to abortion in the state could be included on ballots this November, allowing Floridians to vote 'yes' or 'no' to sealing abortion rights.
In response on 1 May, US Vice President Kamala Harris lamented that "starting this morning, women in Florida became subject to an abortion ban so extreme it applies before many women even know they are pregnant." She claimed that the ban is a result of former President Donald Trump appointing three of the six US Supreme Court judges who had voted to overturn Roe v Wade, causing "extremists" in various states to pass laws that "criminalize doctors, punish women" just for "providing reproductive care."
On the same day, Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell said that women now have "fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers had."
Issues at large
First, an overview of the laws. In Arizona, the judgement prevented the 1864 abortion ban from coming into effect. The law, which had laid dormant in the state after the Roe v Wade ruling, ordered prosecution for "a person who provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman unless it is necessary to save her life." It placed a blanket ban on all abortions except to save a woman's life and prevented individuals in Arizona from terminating a pregnancy after 15 weeks. In Florida, the abortion law bans anyone from getting an abortion after six weeks. It includes exceptions for cases of rape, incest, abnormalities, and when the mother's life is in danger. Patients must appear for two in-person appointments at least 24 hours apart. The biggest criticism of the law is that most women have no idea that they're even pregnant in the first six weeks.
Second, Roe v Wade and after. On 24 June 2022, the US Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which had established the constitutional right to abortion, allowing states to make their abortion laws. As per the research group Guttmacher Institute, abortions in 2023 were up from 53 per cent in 2020. The overturning of Roe v Wade resulted in Florida becoming "one of the main points of access for abortion care within the formal healthcare system in the south," as per a data scientist at the Guttmacher Institute. He added that 9,000 people seeking abortion in 2023 came from other states. Thus, the implications of the new law combined with the overturning of Roe v Wade will impact women from many other states. More than 20 states began enforcing abortion laws to different degrees following the overturn. However, while the majority still believes that the overturn was the right call, there are disagreements on what abortion laws should look like.
Third, the debate over abortion- conservatives and gender rights. The position that pro-life supports and pro-choice supports has largely remained unchanged over the years. While the former holds that foetuses should be protected, the latter argues that women should have the right to make their own decisions about their bodies. Both movements have many supports, meaning the reactions in both states were mixed. In Arizona, anti-abortion advocates blamed pro-abortion advocates, saying that the "most protective pro-life law in the country is poised to fall to the appetites of pro-abortion activists." In Florida, a pro-choice woman said that she is "terrified" due to the law, asserting that her "life matters." On 1 May, anti-abortion activists lined up behind a Jacksonville abortion clinic, making beelines for cars with potential patients. A pro-life individual described the six-week ban as a "landmark for the pro-life movement and for women."
Fourth, politics in the US. The abortion debate has always been a central theme in US politics and has already become a key aspect of the elections this year. Republicans are known to be more conservative and anti-abortion, while Democrats are more liberal and pro-abortion. Four of the seven justices in Arizona who favoured the 1864 ban were Republicans, while in Florida, most of the Supreme Court justices are appointed by DeSantis, meaning they share similar views. However, while the Republican's support for anti-abortion laws has prevailed, the decision of two Republicans in Arizona to support repealing the ban indicated a shift in the stance. Republican Kari Lake, who in 2022 described the ban as a "great law," said that the ruling to reinstate it is "out of step with Arizonans." This shifting stance has become so significant that conservative voters struggle to maintain party loyalty. Arizona's Democratic Party Chair, Yolanda Bejarano, affirmed, "Republicans know that they are on the wrong side of this issue."
In Perspective
First, the upcoming elections. Both Arizona and Florida are battleground states in the forthcoming elections, which is why the rhetoric surrounding abortions is more significant in these places. Democrats have used the initial decision in Arizona and the prevailing law in Florida to convince voters, especially women, that reproductive rights under Republicans will be extremely constrained. Given the extreme nature of the law in Florida, it is possible that even moderate voters would choose to vote for Democrats. US President Joe Biden has also blamed Trump for overturning Roe v Wade and the fallouts that the decision has had on abortion laws in other states during his campaign.
Second, more constrained access to healthcare for women. The overturning of Roe v Wade, which allowed states to enforce laws banning abortions, forced women from those states to travel to other areas where they had access to abortion. In the south of the US, as per the Guttmacher Institute, one in three abortions were performed in Florida. As per the CEO of Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida, Alexandra Mandado, Florida's new law means that the "entire South now, in a month, will be a desert for abortion care." Medical practitioners have expressed concerns over how this could result in women taking matters into their own hands, resulting in an uptick in injuries and miscarriages.