The Daily Agenda: The new law of the land
It was written by white men in 1864 ... Ted Simons for governor ... And the reviews are in.
A sincere thank you to everyone who made it to Crescent Ballroom for our birthday party Friday. A handful of politicians and lobbyists showed up, as well as a whole bunch of regular people we had never met before, which was fun. We’ll have to do it again next year.
A Pima County judge ruled on Friday that a pre-statehood law banning almost all abortions can be enforced, effectively outlawing elective abortions in Arizona.
The law dates back to 1864, but it was enjoined in 1973, after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade. Now it’s back in effect.
For an eye-opening history lesson on how that 1864 law came to be, check out historian Heather Cox Richardson’s dive into the “Howell Code,” the set of laws adopted by the first Arizona Territorial Legislature that year, which “appear to reflect the need to rein in a lawless population of men.”
While Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson’s decision wasn’t surprising, the implications for the state are huge.
People seeking legal abortions will largely need to go out of state. The law only allows abortions to save the life of the mother — hospitals and providers will wrangle with how to care for patients while their lives are on the line. These providers have already struggled with their legal rights since the Dobbs ruling.
We expect to see additional lawsuits in other venues against this law. The question before the Pima County court related straightforwardly to the injunction, put in place because of Roe. But other questions over Arizona’s legal landscape on abortion still aren’t clear: Gov. Doug Ducey kept claiming the 15-week ban took precedence, and that ban went into effect on Saturday.
Beyond that, the language of who can be prosecuted doesn’t strictly apply to providers — how could “provide, supply and administer … or procure” be applied beyond doctors? Hospitals likely need guidance from the state on how to proceed. Cities will decide how to direct their police on abortion-related arrests.
Lawmakers next session could try to clarify some of these issues and more, now that states are in charge of abortion access.
The law itself no longer includes provisions to prosecute the person who got the abortion, but people who “provide, supply or administer” abortions face two to five years in prison. Before Roe, abortion providers were prosecuted, the Republic’s Ray Stern reported in May.
But how that law gets enforced will depend largely on who gets elected in November. Republican Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell says she will enforce it while her Democratic challenger, Julie Gunnigle, says she’ll never prosecute anyone for providing abortions. Arizona attorney general candidate Kris Mayes and gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs decried the decision on Saturday morning, with Hobbs saying she’d call a special session to overturn the law on her first day in office.
GOP candidates have said basically nothing about the decision since Friday. As we’ve written before, outright bans on abortion access aren’t popular, and GOP candidates have been trying to publicly soften their positions on the issue since the primary.
While Democrats are outraged online, they’re privately excited about the ruling’s impact on Democrats’ chances in November. It will certainly add to the groundswell of activism toward a 2024 ballot measure to codify access to abortion in some fashion. That effort is already underway.
But before any of that can happen, here’s the reality: Most clinics that provided abortion care stopped doing so, some months ago amid legal uncertainty. People who need abortions will have to go to a neighboring state instead, opt not to get an abortion or do so with illegally. Abortion funds, which provide monetary and practical support to patients, will face higher costs to help.
A generation of Arizonans now face a massive restriction to medical care that they haven’t experienced in their lifetimes.
Happy (belated) general effective date: This weekend marked 90 days since the Legislature adjourned, meaning a whole lot of new laws legislators approved this year just went into effect. Get ready to roll out the artificial grass, split lanes on your motorcycle, shoot up Botox at the dentist’s office, find your lost dog, blast off fireworks for Diwali and keep your business open through the next pandemic, the Republic’s Ray Stern reports.
Let the lawsuits begin: Arizona’s new universal school voucher law is on hold and may remain that way until voters approve or veto it in the 2024 election if the signatures Save our Schools delivered to the Secretary of State’s Office hold up. But it’s not a done deal yet — the group, which successfully repealed a previous voucher law, only delivered about 20% more than the required minimum. Every GOP lawyer in the state will be fine-combing those petition sheets for any technicalities that can invalidate them.
One of them tried to steal an election: Secretary of State candidates Adrian Fontes and Mark Finchem squared off in a 30-minute Clean Elections debate Thursday evening. As expected, Fontes kept a cool head and Finchem was bananas. Also, U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs didn’t show up for his Clean Elections debate, but the Democrat and independent who want to replace him did. Finally, Arizona PBS’ Ted Simons, unfortunately, is not running for office. So he wants you to know that he’s not the one debating Republicans on election issues.
“That’s the candidates’ job. If someone wants to say something really absurd or stupid I can call them on it. But it’s not my job to go back and forth and debate them on it,” Simons told the Republic’s Bill Goodykoontz.
What a world: While taking swipes at the woman who beat her in last month’s primary, outgoing U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney also singled out Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake as a “dangerous” Republican who Cheney will campaign alongside Democrats to defeat.
Secrets are no fun: Robert Robb isn’t a fan of the recent Arizona Supreme Court ruling allowing Senate resident Karen Fann to keep secret loads of audit-related documents. Robb is no “open government zealot,” he writes on his Substack, but the Supreme Court undermined the separation of powers in denying the public information about the audit. Meanwhile, AZGOP Chair Kelli Ward isn’t a fan of a federal court’s ruling that she must turn over her cell phone records to Congress’ Jan. 6 Committee. She’s appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
4/5 Pinocchios: The Associated Press fact-checks Lake’s claims that as a lawmakers, Katie Hobbs voted to remove the Pledge of Allegiance from schools and teach five-year-olds about sex. Hobbs didn’t vote to remove the pledge, she voted against allowing schools to display the slogans “in God we trust” and “God enriches.” She did vote to offer opt-out sex ed for kindergartners (rather than the current opt-in starting in 5th grade), but it would not have taught children that young about the act of sex, rather, it would have “good touch, bad touch” kind of lessons, the AP reports.
If only the forms mattered: Hobbs drove an Uber to supplement her $24,000 lawmaker income for three months in 2016, but she didn’t disclose the $2,700 she earned on her financial disclosure forms, the Republic’s Stacey Barchenger reports. Ironically, the Secretary of State’s Office oversees enforcement of financial disclosure forms. Hobbs amended her 2016 reports after the Republic brought up the Uber gig.
No lines, no wait: People, especially in rural Republican counties, like ballot drop boxes and are using them more than before “2,000 Mules” came out because they’re super convenient and, unlike the mail, you can use them on Election Day. Rachel has the numbers in her latest for Votebeat.
Kumbaya?: There are few things Republicans and Democrats in Arizona agree on, but one of them is that they don’t like Democratic U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, according to Slate’s Dan Kois. He notes that her approval ratings are basically the same for Republicans (36%) and Democrats at about (37%), but that maverick spirit does help her with independents, 41% of whom like her.
TFW your family seems normal: If you thought Republican Arizona Attorney General nominee Abe Hamadeh’s family story couldn’t get weirder, you were wrong: His dad sued Abe and two other children after they secretly moved land out of a trust he had set up and into their own company’s name. They eventually gave the land back, and he dropped the lawsuit, the Republic’s Tara Kavaler reports. It’s not clear if he disclosed the lawsuit to the State Bar.
It’s a start: The Phoenix City Council approved a nearly $1 million contract for churches to create shelters for the homeless, KJZZ’s Christina Estes reports.
That Arizona Agenda is so hot right now: Rachel was on 12News’ “Sunday Square Off” this weekend talking about the one-year anniversary of the Arizona Senate audit, among other topics. We joined national politics writer David Catanese for his video podcast on Substack to talk all things Arizona. And we started doing a regular Monday morning thing with KJZZ’s “The Show.” Catch us around 9 a.m. on 91.5 FM.
Most importantly: The Arizona State Fair is open. Here’s the smart brevity guide.
Speaking of Katie Hobbs’ old gigs: Her ratemyprofessors.com profile from teaching social work at Paradise Valley Community College is not great.
In reviews posted from 2009 to 2017, the vast majority of her students thought she was nice, but her class was a waste of time and her communication skills were lacking. (It’s worth noting that research has shown the rating tool can be sexist, too.)
A sample:
“The material lacked substance, and she was often late to class or cancelled class due to lack of preparation.”
“A very easy hybrid class, but instructor didn't seem any more interested in being in class any more than I was.”
“If you want an easy ‘A,‘ take the class. If you want to actually learn something, don't waste your time or your money. She's a nice person, but the class is pointless.”
Best summary of the Fontes/Finchem debate I've seen yet: "As expected, Fontes kept a cool head and Finchem was bananas. "
William Thompson Howell, like all snowbirds, had more than a gutfull of Arizona summers. And decided his 3rd wife needed him back in Michigan before his six month anniversary of first showing up.
He'd moved from Prescott to Tucson almost as soon as his Code was approved, searching for someplace where more than one out of three men wore shoes.
His 3rd wife was trying to care for his 7 kids by herself since his first two wives and some of their babies died as he tried to knock out babies as fast as he could.
So. ...... yeah, I can see why it's so important to respect the intent of the Author of our Code.
4,000,000 women in Arizona should bow at the feet of his statue, wherever it is, in respect for that one dude who knew how to write stuff and also wore shoes.