Republicans in Arizona have blocked another attempt to repel the near total ban on abortion from 1864 that was reinstated by the state’s Supreme Court this month.
The Democratic-led effort to repeal the ban was derailed by a procedural move by staunch anti-abortion Republican Rep. Jacqueline Parker.
Another attempt by Democratic Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton to temporarily amend the rules to force a vote on the motion to repeal the ban also failed on a 30-30 tie vote with just one Republican, Rep. Matt Gress, joining Democrats.
Rep. David Cook, another Republican who indicated that he supports repealing the law, said suspending the rules to do so is the wrong way to go about it.
A majority of the House along with the Speaker must vote to suspend the rules to hold an immediate vote, for the move to succeed, according to Arizona House rules.
House Speaker Ben Toma (R) who is facing a competitive GOP primary in a red district, told Axios earlier this month that repealing the law is off the table.
He doubled down on Wednesday.
“The last thing we should be doing today is rushing a bill through the legislative process to repeal a law that has been enacted and reaffirmed by the Legislature several times,” Toma said, according to NBC News.
“And I would ask everyone in this chamber to respect the fact that some of us believe that abortion is in fact the murder of children,” he added.
It is the second time in two weeks that House Republicans in Arizona defeated an effort to repeal the more than a century old law, which makes abortion punishable by up to five years in prison for anyone who performs or helps a woman obtain one.
There are no exceptions for rape and incest. It only allows for exceptions “when it is necessary” to save the life of a pregnant person.
