TUCSON, Ariz. – Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake drew criticism from both sides of the abortion debate during a visit to the University of Arizona Thursday evening as she and other candidates were affected by this week’s state Supreme Court decision upholding the state Supreme Court’s decision. Abortion ban during Civil War.
Lake’s flip-flop on what he calls the “big law” in 2022, but now opposes, and the law Urges fellow Republicans to repeal — shows her and other Republicans’ difficult political stance on abortion policy ahead of the 2024 election.
Former President Donald Trump, Roe v. He released a video on abortion policy last week, hoping to deflect criticism of the role of Supreme Court appointees in the wake of Wade and cast it as a states’ rights issue, allaying fears of a national ban. But Republicans continue to defend state-level abortion bans that are now invalid because of the 2022 Supreme Court ruling, including Lake, who described himself as “Trump in heels” and faced criticism at a campaign stop Thursday.
During an event hosted by the University of Arizona College Republicans, Lake opened up a town hall to questions from the crowd and quickly confronted abortion.
“The Republican Party has taken such a strong position against abortion,” one student said before citing the state Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday. “Why is there such a drastic change in the way you talk about it?” asked the student, to cheers and cheers from the lower part of the crowd, some wearing “college democrat” T-shirts.
The student’s confrontational question echoed Lake’s daily backlash against Lake’s likely Democratic challenger, Rep. Ruben Gallego, citing comments from 2022.
On Thursday, Gallego pulled the tape back X account, shares an audio recording of Lake praising and naming the law. “We’re going to have a big law that’s already on the books. I believe it’s Ars 13-3603,” Lake said in a 2022 interview.
Since the verdict, Lake has taken steps to clean up his past comments. He left his post Abortion policy videoà la former president Donald Trump, and there made calls to state lawmakers Pushing to repeal Civil War-era abortion ban in Arizona state legislature.
But Lake’s evolving attitude is also drawing attention from opponents of abortion rights.
“When you said you supported Prohibition in 1864, we thought you meant it,” said a middle-aged man gathered in the student union. “When the Supreme Court came out and delivered that miracle to this country and freed us from evil, you changed your mind,” the man added, calling the Arizona Supreme Court decision a gift from heaven.
“I want to know what you say to the people who trust you and believe in you and believe that you are in love with the babies in this world as much as they are and that the state of Arizona is a miracle. Why are you against America, that miracle?” the man asked.
In response, Lake revealed his political calculations.
“First and foremost, I’m pro-life and I want to save as many babies as possible. But you do realize that this law will not survive in November? asked the lake. “On the November ballot, there is a ballot written by Planned Parenthood that will ultimately lead to abortion up to nine months,” Lake said. The ballot measure would limit abortion to 24 weeks of pregnancy, but opponents said a broad exemption would allow patients to request an abortion later to protect patients’ physical and mental health. Supporters of the measure say it misrepresents the rare reality of late-term abortions and why they happen.
Lake continued to strike an empathetic tone while responding to the “miracle” man’s complaint.
“The voters of the state will vote for it [the constitutional amendment] unless there is an exception for a 10-year-old child who is a victim of consanguinity,” Lake said.
“I want to save every baby. I can’t imagine choosing an abortion under any circumstances. But I am not standing in the place of the woman who was beaten by her pimp. I’m not standing in his place, and neither are you,” Lake continued.
Lake received loving questions and praise from local conservatives and college Republicans during the event, who still see him as an ally.
“If you read a story about what happened here tonight, you know how the media works. We had a great conversation, didn’t we?” “It wasn’t all easy questions,” Lake said to cheers from some in the crowd. Tomorrow there will be a headline in the media about one of the more negative questions. And they’re going to turn things upside down.”