California Governor Gavin Newsom enacted a new bill allowing Arizona abortion providers to perform the procedure within the state through November 30. The law goes into effect immediately.
The measure follows a recent Arizona Supreme Court decision that allowed a near-total abortion ban in the state.
"Arizona Republicans tried to turn back the clock to 1864 to impose a near-total abortion ban across their state. We refuse to stand by and acquiesce to their oppressive and dangerous attacks on women," Newsom said in a statement Thursday.
"I'm grateful for the California Legislative Women's Caucus and all our partners for moving quickly to provide this backstop. California stands ready to protect reproductive freedom."
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, legal questions popped up immediately over whether Arizona officials were obligated to enforce the 1864 law, which had never been repealed, or a 15-week ban on abortion from 2022 that was designed to snap into effect if Roe was struck down.
The Arizona Supreme Court decided on April 9 that the 1864 law was enforceable. However, the law was later repealed by the legislature but could still go into effect for a limited period of time.
Under the Arizona Constitution, a fully enacted repeal doesn't go into effect until 90 days after the end of a legislative session unless it was passed by a supermajority in both legislative chambers.
Since the Arizona Supreme Court agreed to delay the implementation of the controversial law to September 26, the permission for Arizona abortion providers to continue working in California might not even be necessary, according to an analysis by Axios.
The time frame for the law depends on when the legislative session ends. In 2023 it did so on July 31. If that's also the case this year the ban would be enforceable for a little over a month, between late September and the end of October. If the Legislature adjourns by June 28, the ban will likely never be enforced.
Meanwhile, Arizona is among a handful of states moving toward putting abortion rights measures on the November ballot, but it has not yet been confirmed, as in Florida, Maryland and New York.
State activists claimed in April that they had collected enough signatures to meet that goal, an initiative highly anticipated by national and state Democrats as abortion rights became a flagship issue of President Joe Biden's campaign.
A vast majority of Latino voters in California, and in the battleground states of Nevada and Arizona say they are more likely to vote for a candidate who supports abortion rights, according to a poll by BSP Research.
About 74% Latino voters in Arizona said they were more inclined to vote for "a candidate who holds a pro-choice position and would advocate for making sure abortion access was available nationwide".
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