Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake has declared abortion the “ultimate sin” and said abortion pills should be illegal. praised laws restricting reproductive rights in other conservative-led states. In August, Lake was in Ohio to campaign for a ballot measure that would have made it harder to pass a constitutional amendment that would have established abortion rights.
Now, in an exclusive interview with NBC News, Lake spoke about the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade is trying to adjust his position to acknowledge the tight spot Republicans find themselves in after reversing his decision.
Lake said he believes Arizona will agree to a rule that would allow access to abortion between 15 and 24 weeks. He called the state’s current 15-week limit “good law” and told NBC News that he does not support Arizona’s controversial territorial rule, an almost total ban on abortion that has been challenged in the courts. In November 2023, Lake answered his question “I haven’t changed,” about his previous support for the territorial ban.
The state ballot initiative is set to go before voters later this year.
“It’s probably going to be Week 15 or whatever is on this ballot initiative,” Lake said, adding that he expects Arizonans to land. “I trust the people of Arizona that if this is going to happen, they’re going to vote on it and get it right.”
She called the 15-week rule “something Americans can get behind” because it gives people options, gives women options and makes sure there are carve-outs.
“The vast majority of Americans and Arizonans agree that abortion should be legal and late-term abortion should not be legal,” he said, “except for rape, consanguinity, and obviously the health of the mother.”
Along with other battleground Republicans, Lake opposed the federal abortion ban and opposed restrictions on access to in vitro fertilization.
“I hope the court will overturn it,” he said of the Alabama court’s decision to close fertility clinics and prompt Republicans to scramble to calm the political crisis.
Still, Lake argued that federal lawmakers have no role in the equation, calling it a question “for the states to decide,” and declined to comment on whether she would vote to protect IVF nationwide if elected.
“If one state has a ban, another state will have abortion, and therefore women will be able to access abortion,” he said.
Democrats are working to make reproductive rights a defining issue in the race, as they did during Lake’s 2022 campaign for governor. This year, a new high-profile legal battle over the abortion pill mifepristone will bring the issue back to the fore.
In addition, Lake is trying to prove that there is a way for Republicans to talk about abortion.
Lake said he wants to back up Republican family policy rhetoric with policies that make a difference in people’s lives. He said he was focused on finding solutions to ease the burden on mothers and pregnant women, and pledged to work across the aisle to help pass baby bonuses, more child tax credits and paid family leave.
“What we need to do is really start supporting women and giving them the right choices,” Lake said. “We have to prioritize. We talk about being pro-family and it’s time to put our money where our mouth is.”
“Congress has spent about $200 billion in Ukraine and recently wanted to send another $75 billion,” he added. “Instead, we can invest that money in American families through baby bonuses, prenatal care, parenting resources and classes, and child care.”
He said funds to pay for his proposals “will be available through tax credits and tax cuts.”
“I can really help here in the Senate by introducing really great legislation that will provide child bonuses for families, expand and strengthen child tax credits to provide more tax relief, tax cuts for mums, dads and babies. Lake told NBC News.
He promoted paid family leave so that new parents could spend more time with their newborns without having to worry about returning to work immediately. “I think we should encourage that for businesses and new families,” Lake said.
Other measures proposed by Lake include “financial support, prenatal care and grant money for parenting resources and classes.” He argued that adopting an agenda to help alleviate the economic plight of families is simply a matter of setting priorities.
“We bail out companies all the time, but we never bail out families,” Lake said. “We need to help families. If the Democrats want to do it, I’m ready to do it.”
Republicans have historically shown less interest in directing public spending toward child care or other measures that help balance the costs of having children.
But with abortion increasingly restricted in half of the nation’s states, more Americans are worried about how they will pay for their children.
With voter backlash against new abortion restrictions in Republican-held states, the issue has emerged as a political liability for the party, limiting GOP gains in recent elections.
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling, statewide ballot questions on abortion have secured victories for abortion rights advocates in red-leaning states like Ohio and Kansas, and efforts are underway to get at least a dozen more protections on the ballot in 2024.
Roe v. In a year where Republican former President Donald Trump, who led Wade’s demise, continues his march toward the GOP nomination, the party faces a grim reality.
Anti-establishment Lake has worked to mend ties with the Republican Party and won the endorsement of the Republican National Republican Senatorial Committee in January.
That institutional firepower is now being marshaled to attack Lake’s Democratic challenger, painting the Arizona congressman as an outcast and impugning his record with women.
“Ruben Gallego supports taxpayer-funded abortion up until birth and cannot name a single restriction on abortion that he supports,” said NRSC spokesperson Tate Mitchell.
Gallego’s campaign says it’s Lake who has the extreme position. “Kari Lake will say anything to get elected, but her actions are clear: She supports a ban on abortion, regardless of rape or incest, and will ban medical abortion. Arizonans will not be fooled by attempts to expunge her record,” campaign spokeswoman Hannah Goss said.
Lake’s campaign, in response to criticism from Gallego, pointed to reports that he and his ex-wife split while she was still pregnant. His ex-husband, now the mayor of Arizona, supported his Senate bid, and their split was described as amicable.
“I’m the only woman in this race for the U.S. Senate in Arizona who has actually given birth, been pregnant, and experienced the joy of motherhood,” Lake said. “It makes me more qualified to talk about pregnancy than my opponent, Reuben Gallego, a man who walked out on his wife when she was nine months pregnant, so I won’t be insulted by him.”
In recent years, there has been a push by some Republicans to provide financial support to families, with polls showing that public attitudes have shifted in that direction. especially Among American conservatives. But there is no clear way to turn these ideas into law.
Lake cited Hungary as an example where better support for families could be a way to reduce abortions without resorting to the law.
“They managed to halve the number of abortions in Hungary,” he said. “They have not touched any law. The laws didn’t change, it didn’t matter. Viktor Orbán said that we just decided to encourage individuals to start a family.
Even Trump has weighed in on the need for policies that make it easier to raise a family. After pushing to increase the child tax credit while in office, Trump last year made baby bonuses for couples with children part of his 2024 agenda. (Critics have said he owes too little in federal taxes because the tax credit policy in office fails to help families with incomes so low.)
Orban, whose populist agenda has drawn conservative praise, is set to meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago next week.
Lake’s political opponents have seized on his past positions and attacked him for his challenge “carbon copy” During his run for governor in 2022, Texas’ six-week abortion ban will be brought before the Arizona legislature, and according to his comments interview where he called Arizona’s territorial ban a “great piece of legislation.”
For Republicans, “this is a toxic issue,” said Arizona Republican strategist Barrett Marson. “He can read the vote and see that he needs to go back — he needs to be more open to what’s going on.”
“But the problem is that it will come back to haunt his words from 2022,” Marson continued. “2022 Kari Lake is 2024 Kari Lake’s worst enemy.”