An Arizona judge helped revive an 1864 abortion law. His lawmaker wife joined Democrats to repeal it

When it was Shawnna Bolick’s turn to speak, the words poured out of her mouth for twenty minutes. The conservative lawmaker was in the middle of a heated debate in Arizona’s Republican-led Senate over a bill to repeal an 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions.

Democrats needed at least one more vote from the right to advance the bill.

Bolick, head bowed and stumbling over her words, described her three difficult pregnancies, including one that ended in miscarriage. She said she wouldn’t have gotten through it “without my husband’s moral support.”

Her husband, Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, was part of the majority that voted in April to reinstate the near-total ban.

Observers in the gallery cheered as the senator declared himself “pro-life.” Only in the final moments of her speech did her meaning become clear.

“I’m here to protect more babies,” she said. “I vote yes.”

The bill passed and a day later, on May 2, Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed it into law.

Shawnna Bolick’s vote to repeal the near-total ban that her husband helped reinstate underscores the increasingly chaotic philosophical and legal landscape surrounding abortion access in Arizona, and reflects national Republicans’ struggle to overturn the politics of abortion during to govern a presidential election year.

This could cause problems for the judge and the senator. Both declined interview requests from The Associated Press.

Shawnna and Clint Bolick met in Washington at an event hosted by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative research institute. They are longtime friends with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — the godfather of one of Clint Bolick’s sons — and his conservative, political activist wife Ginni.

Clarence Thomas was part of the majority that overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 – something he had sought for more than three decades – and he also urged his colleagues to uphold the rulings protecting same-sex marriage, gay sex and to reverse the use of contraceptives.

After the 2020 presidential election, Ginni Thomas sent emails urging Republican lawmakers in Arizona — including Shawnna Bolick — to choose their own electors to overturn Joe Biden’s victory in the state. Bolick, then a state representative, introduced a bill the following year to rewrite Arizona’s election laws to give state lawmakers the power to reject election results “at any time before the presidential inauguration.” Her proposal died before it came to a vote.

Their conservative credentials have not shielded them from criticism as Clint Bolick seeks another six-year term on the bench and his wife, who was appointed last year to represent her north Phoenix district, before a major presidential election on July 30 challenge.

After the Supreme Court published its ruling, there were soon calls from the right to repeal the near-total ban. On social media, U.S. Rep. David Schweikert, a Republican, said the court was “making law from the bench.” Former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey said the court’s ruling did not reflect “the will of the people.”

A progressive group also launched a campaign against Judges Bolick and Kathryn King — both of whom voted to reinstate the 160-year-old abortion ban and are running for retention in November.

“Arizonans have a constitutional right to hold judges and justices accountable,” said Abigail Jackson, digital coordinator for Progress Arizona. “So we want Arizonans to know that these two specific judges will be on the ballot in November and want to focus some of their energy on dethroning them.”

Voters rarely deny a sitting judge another term; Only six have been impeached since Arizona adopted its judicial retention election system in 1974.

Meanwhile, Democrats have made the abortion ruling central in their quest to take control of the state Legislature for the first time in decades. Senator Bolick, who represents one of the most competitive districts in the state, is among their top targets.

Bolick appeared to argue on the floor that a repeal would protect against extreme ballot initiatives to enshrine abortion rights, saying she wanted to “protect our state constitution from unrestricted abortions.”

But the Center for Arizona Policy, an anti-abortion organization, blasted her vote for repeal, saying she “voted with pro-abortion activist lawmakers.”

Some Republican colleagues agreed.

“She has confused the pro-life community,” Senator Jake Hoffman said after the vote. “Make no mistake: for everyone who sees this and hears my voice now, and for everyone who will hear it, she voted for abortions.”

The repeal bill won’t go into effect until 90 days after the state legislative session ends, usually in June or July. The Civil War-era ban could be enforced in the meantime, but the Supreme Court on Monday stayed its decision and reinstated a 2022 statute banning abortions after 15 weeks of Arizona’s current abortion law.

But the legal landscape could change again if Arizona voters approve a ballot measure in November to enshrine access to abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy in the state constitution. Organizers say they will submit more than enough signatures before the July 3 deadline.

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Yamat reported from Las Vegas. Associated Press writers Jonathan J. Cooper and Anita Snow in Phoenix contributed to this report.