Earlier this month, a court decision brought the state's contentious 1864 prohibition on almost all abortions back to life, with the exception of abortions performed to save the life of the pregnant woman. On Wednesday, three Republicans joined Democrats in the Arizona House to vote in favor of repealing this outdated law. The vote in the end was 32–28.
"I have known for a while that the votes were there, it just takes a lot of fortitude, a lot of spine," state representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, a Democrat, said to ABC News's Jaclyn Lee.
The night before the vote, Hamilton claimed to have had many phone discussions with Republicans. Although she did not share the specifics of those talks, she said they gave her a cautious sense of optimism.
"The eyes of the world were watching Arizona, and that is not hyperbole, and so these are decisions that we need to make for people and if you were able to talk to folks in these districts, you would find that this is an issue where they are showing up and representing the people in their district, which is what they were elected to do," Hamilton stated.
The state Senate is the next stop for the measure, and they may consider it next week.
Encouraged by Speaker Ben Toma to remove him from his appropriations committee assignment, state representative Matt Gress, one of three Republicans who sided with Democrats, asked his Senate colleagues to "quickly" take up the subject.
"I refuse to buy into the false notion pushed by the extremes on both sides of this issue that we cannot respect and protect women and defend new life at the same time," he stated in a press release.
Republican state representative Tim Dunn, who voted in favor of repeal, criticized the 1864 legislation for being "not perfect" and pointing out that it lacked provisions for incest and rape. An anti-abortion activist has already declared their intention to mobilize against the three Republicans who voted for repeal, Dunn, Gress, and state representative Justin Wilmeth.
In a separate session on Wednesday, the Senate passed its own measure repealing the abortion prohibition without opposition, paving the way for a concurrent vote that is now probably unnecessary given the House bill's approval.
The repeal campaign has already received backing from two Republican senators, indicating that the House measure would likely pass that house and then go to Governor Katie Hobbs' desk for eventual signing into law.
The abortion prohibition would then be lifted ninety days after the parliamentary session ends, which has to happen before June 30.
State Senator Eva Burch, a Democrat, told ABC News's Elizabeth Schulze, "This is a stain on history that this ban even exists -- from a time when the age of consent was 10, from a time when women did not have the right to vote," during an earlier, unsuccessful attempt to ratify the repeal measure in the state House.
"I have known for a while that the votes were there, it just takes a lot of fortitude, a lot of spine," state representative Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, a Democrat, said to ABC News's Jaclyn Lee.
The night before the vote, Hamilton claimed to have had many phone discussions with Republicans. Although she did not share the specifics of those talks, she said they gave her a cautious sense of optimism.
"The eyes of the world were watching Arizona, and that is not hyperbole, and so these are decisions that we need to make for people and if you were able to talk to folks in these districts, you would find that this is an issue where they are showing up and representing the people in their district, which is what they were elected to do," Hamilton stated.
The state Senate is the next stop for the measure, and they may consider it next week.
Encouraged by Speaker Ben Toma to remove him from his appropriations committee assignment, state representative Matt Gress, one of three Republicans who sided with Democrats, asked his Senate colleagues to "quickly" take up the subject.
"I refuse to buy into the false notion pushed by the extremes on both sides of this issue that we cannot respect and protect women and defend new life at the same time," he stated in a press release.
Republican state representative Tim Dunn, who voted in favor of repeal, criticized the 1864 legislation for being "not perfect" and pointing out that it lacked provisions for incest and rape. An anti-abortion activist has already declared their intention to mobilize against the three Republicans who voted for repeal, Dunn, Gress, and state representative Justin Wilmeth.
In a separate session on Wednesday, the Senate passed its own measure repealing the abortion prohibition without opposition, paving the way for a concurrent vote that is now probably unnecessary given the House bill's approval.
The repeal campaign has already received backing from two Republican senators, indicating that the House measure would likely pass that house and then go to Governor Katie Hobbs' desk for eventual signing into law.
The abortion prohibition would then be lifted ninety days after the parliamentary session ends, which has to happen before June 30.
State Senator Eva Burch, a Democrat, told ABC News's Elizabeth Schulze, "This is a stain on history that this ban even exists -- from a time when the age of consent was 10, from a time when women did not have the right to vote," during an earlier, unsuccessful attempt to ratify the repeal measure in the state House.
