With help from two Republicans, bill to repeal Arizona abortion law clears state Senate; Democratic governor plans to sign



The Arizona Senate has voted to repeal a law that would prohibit performing abortions except in cases where it is necessary to save the mother's life.

The text of the law reads, "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, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two years nor more than five years."

The state Senate voted 16-14 in favor of repealing the law. Two Republicans, T.J. Shope and Shawnna Bolick, voted with Democrats to support repeal, reports indicate. Last week, the Arizona state House voted 32-28 in favor of repealing the law, with three Republicans voting with Democrats, according to reports.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, plans to sign the bill. She said in a statement, "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."

Last month, the Arizona state Supreme Court issued a decision that would allow for the law to be enforced, but according to azag.gov, "As of now, the earliest the 1864 territorial abortion ban may take effect is June 27, 2024."

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said in a Wednesday statement that "without an emergency clause that would allow the repeal to take effect immediately, the people of Arizona may still be subjected to the near-total abortion ban for a period of time this year. Rest assured, my office is exploring every option available to prevent this outrageous 160-year-old law from ever taking effect."

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House votes to repeal 2002 Iraq War authorization in effort to reclaim congressional war powers



The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of revoking the 2002 authorization for the use of military force (AUMF) on Thursday, in a move aimed at returning war powers to Congress that were ceded to the president following 9/11.

What are the details?

The effort, led by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), passed 268-161, with 49 Republicans joining all but one Democrat in voting for the repeal. Proponents argue that the authorization granted under President George W. Bush — for the purpose of military engagement in Iraq — has been abused by occupants of the Oval Office since its passage 19 years ago and utilized to extend far beyond its original purpose.

"Three presidents, both Republicans and Democrats, have used this permission to drag out conflicts that will get us into new ones," Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) said on the House floor prior to voting in favor of the legislation, The Washington Post reported.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), another proponent, argued, "Repeal is crucial because the executive branch has a history of stretching" [the authorization's legal authority], the Chicago Sun-Times reported. "It has already been used as justification for military actions against entities that had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein's Ba'athist dictatorship simply because such entities were operating in Iraq."

The New York Post reported that Lee told her colleagues, "Once we pass a repeal of the 2002 AUMF, we must keep up our fight to repeal the 2001 AUMF so that no future president has the unilateral power to plunge us into endless wars."

"We can't afford to leave this in place indefinitely," she added. "For two decades, it has been in place. This is our opportunity to restore our constitutional role."

The New York Post reported that opponents of the measure argued that repealing the 2002 AUMF "could hinder US counterterrorism efforts, noting it was used as part of the legal rationale that allowed President Donald Trump's administration to move forward with the January 2020 drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani."

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said on the floor, "This feels like yet another political effort to undo one of President Trump's boldest counterterrorism successes: using the 2002 AUMF to remove Soleimani from the battlefield. Soleimani was Iran's mastermind of terror for decades."

President Joe Biden voted in favor of the AUMF as a Senator in 2002, but has since expressed his regret for doing so. The White House supports the repeal effort passed by the House.