Many pro-life Republicans in Arizona's legislature could "never ethically vote for anything that would legalize abortion," but what they can do is pass a "conditional act" that would set restrictions that would take effect if Democrats pass a "radical initiative," state Rep. Alexander Kolodin told Newsmax on Friday.
"What we can do and what I'd like to see is what's called a conditional act," explained the Arizona Republican, who appeared on "National Report" with fellow GOP state Rep. David Cook.
"I'd like to see us refer something to the ballot that says if and only if the Democrats' radical initiative passes, then here are the restrictions that we could have on abortions: 15 weeks, restrictions for health and safety, and regulation of health and safety so that we're not having the back-alley abortions that the Democrats are attempting to legalize," Kolodin said.
Passing a conditional act could potentially gain the support of "all Republicans" while giving Arizona voters a "real choice as to what level of abortion [legislation] they want, if they want it, or do they want it all," Kolodin said. "Then we could truly leave it up to the voters of this state to decide what kind of society they would like to live in."
His comments came three days after the Arizona Supreme Court upheld at 160-year-old abortion ban, leading to calls from both sides, including GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake, to repeal the law.
Arizona Democrat Gov. Katie Hobbs has also called for the 1864 law to be repealed, and the state's Democrat attorney general said she would refuse to enforce any abortion bans.
Many Republicans also fear that the threat of a complete abortion ban will galvanize Democrats and shift moderate GOP votes, and Kolodin noted that "voter turnout in Arizona is going to be sky high among the Democrats," who want to constitutionalize abortion "up until birth."
"That was going to be their central get-out-the-vote strategy regardless," he added. "Their messaging will be the same regardless of what happens with the pre-statehood law … we need to stick to our principles, the principles of the Republican Party platform on which we were elected that stands for life."
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Tuscon on Friday. Cook said he does appreciate that "any elected official from 3000 miles away would "come to Arizona and just get close to the border and see what border states are facing."
But on abortion, Cook said, "Women are highly educated and intelligent in the state of Arizona and across this country … what the issue is here is that you're telling that sex that they're not intelligent enough to make a decision which is right or wrong."
Republican women, he added, will be driven to vote because, even though they wouldn't have an abortion, "they just don't like government telling them what they can or cannot do in this type of fashion."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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