Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) said Sunday that last week’s Arizona Supreme Court ruling banning nearly all abortions in the state is a result of actions former President Trump took while in office.
“Let me start by saying this has been a disaster for women in Arizona. They’ve lost a fundamental right to abortion, and it’s all because of Donald Trump,” Kelly said in an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.
“Donald Trump owns this. He said just yesterday that he broke Roe v. Wade, and because he did that, this enabled our court to bring back this draconian 1864 law to take away this right, send doctors to jail,” Kelly added.
On Friday, Trump said there was no need for a federal law limiting abortion because “we broke Roe v. Wade” and states were working “brilliantly” in their restricting access to abortion.
His comments come as he faces backlash for saying on Monday that abortion should be left up to the states to determine policy, while appearing to say he would not sign a federal ban.
Trump has particularly been on defense since the Arizona Supreme Court ruling upheld an 1864 law and made performing the procedure a felony. The century-old law makes abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs or helps a woman obtain an abortion. It includes an extremely narrow exception allowing for an abortion “when it is necessary” to save a pregnant person’s life.
The former president said the court went too far with its ruling, and earlier Friday he urged Arizona lawmakers to act “as fast as possible” to adjust the state’s abortion policy, even as Republicans in the state Legislature blocked attempts by Democrats to repeal the 1864 law.
Kelly in the Sunday interview said he hopes to get a ballot initiative securing the right to abortion this coming November. But either way, he said that he expects the ruling to turn Arizona voters out to the polls.
“My first concern is women in Arizona and their health, and women could die from this 1864 ruling that once again was enabled by the former president. So that’s my biggest concern,” he said. “We’re going to have an election in November. I imagine we’re going to have large turnout because of this issue.”
“I also want to point out … that I don’t think this represents who we are in the state of Arizona. This is a moment in time, we’re gonna get through this. We have an opportunity to fix this in November,” he said.
Reached for a response, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung referred The Hill to the former president’s earlier statement on the Arizona abortion ruling, saying the state’s Supreme Court “went too far” by “enacting and approving an inappropriate Law from 1864,” and labeling Democrats as the “extremists” on the issue of abortion.
“So now the Governor and the Arizona Legislature must use HEART, COMMON SENSE, and ACT IMMEDIATELY, to remedy what has happened. Remember, it is now up to the States and the Good Will of those that represent THE PEOPLE. We must ideally have the three Exceptions for Rape, Incest, and Life of the Mother. This is important!” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social.
Story updated at 3:11 p.m.