Arizona U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake (R) on Saturday appeared to backtrack her opposition to the state Supreme Court instating a 1864 near-total abortion ban, attacking elected officials who are pledging to not prosecute under the law.
“The Arizona Supreme Court said this is the law of Arizona,” she said in an interview with the Idaho Dispatch. “But unfortunately, the people running our state have said we’re not going to enforce it.”
Lake previously said Arizona's Civil War-era abortion ban was “out of line with where the people of this state are.”
The law — which has garnered nationwide condemnation, including from Donald Trump, since the state Supreme Court instated it — outlaws abortions except to save the mother’s life. Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes, who are both Democrats, vowed to block prosecutions under the ban.
GOP strategists have expressed concerns that the court decision could weigh on Republicans in competitive races in the purple state such as Lake, who is seeking the party’s nomination and to flip the Senate seat from Democratic control in November.
