Former President Donald Trump joined Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake in opposition to the recent ruling by the Arizona Supreme Court that upheld a 19th-century abortion law.
In a moment captured by C-SPAN, the former president told reporters on Wednesday that Arizona’s 1864 abortion law is too strict and that any changes to the state’s abortion policy will represent the “will of the people.”
The law effectively bans all elective abortions, with only those pregnancies that would threaten the life of the mother considered for termination.
Asked by an ABC reporter whether Arizona’s judges went too far by allowing the law, Trump replied, “Yeah they did, and that will be straightened out. As you know, it’s all about state’s rights, it will be straightened out.”
Trump then suggested Governor Katie Hobbs and the Arizona State Legislature would “bring it back into reason” and “very quickly.”
He continued, “It’s the will of the people, it’s what I’ve been saying. It’s a perfect system.”
Q: "Did Arizona go too far?"
Former President Trump: "Yeah, they did. That'll be straightened out. As you know it's all about state's rights. It'll be straightened out. I'm sure that the governor and everybody else are going bring it back to within reason…" pic.twitter.com/Dc9qluxemc
— CSPAN (@cspan) April 10, 2024
Explaining his stance on abortion, Trump noted, “So for 52 years, people have wanted to end Roe v. Wade to get it back to the states. We did that, it was an incredible thing, an incredible achievement. Now the states have it, and the states are putting out what they want, it’s the will of the people.”
The former president added that Arizona’s laws are “going to definitely change, everybody wants that to happen.”
His remarks come the day after Lake declared her own opposition to the judicial ruling and 1864 abortion law in a statement that aligned with the former president.
“I wholeheartedly agree with President Trump – this is a very personal issue that should be determined by each individual state and her people,” stated Lake. She then called on Hobbs and lawmakers to “come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support.”
Stressing her stance that abortion is now a state issue, Lake added that she would oppose both federal funding for abortion and federal laws prohibiting abortion if Arizonans elect her to the U.S. Senate.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Background Photo “Arizona Supreme Court” by davidpinter. CC BY 3.0.
