A deep dive on Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake's (sometimes conflicting) abortion stance
U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake has taken conflicting positions on abortion rights, especially since the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 near-total ban on the procedure.
Lake, the Republican front-runner, unambiguously supported the 19th-century measure during her 2022 gubernatorial campaign.
Immediately after the April ruling, Lake said that approach is “not where the people are.”
More: Arizona Senate votes to repeal 1864 abortion ban, sends measure to governor
More recently, Lake has said it was unfortunate the state’s Democratic governor and attorney general won’t be enforcing the territorial-era ban on abortions except to save the mother’s life.
Here are some of the statements Lake has offered in her political career on an issue expected to weigh heavily on voters this year.
Sept. 3, 2021
Talking to former Trump political strategist Steve Bannon on his “War Room” show, Lake called for a ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. It was in line with a law enacted in Texas months earlier known as Senate Bill 8 that doesn’t include exceptions for rape or incest. It does allow abortions in cases of medical emergency.
“I think the Arizona Legislature should get a carbon copy of S.B. 8 to the governor’s desk right now, Gov. Doug Ducey, as soon as possible. And if my predecessor will not sign it, I will sign that in a heartbeat when I’m governor, without a doubt.”
Dec. 15, 2021
At a Grassroots Tea Party event, Lake was asked if she supported exceptions to abortion bans.
“I’m going to give you my personal viewpoint, but I don’t believe that any child should be killed in a mother’s womb,” she said.
“I believe in the heartbeat bill that Texas passed, and if the Legislature — now I’m not a queen or a king, so I don’t get to dictate — but if our Legislature representing we, the people of Arizona, would put that bill together and get enough support for it and put it on my desk, I would sign it.”
Lake said the Texas law includes some exceptions. She didn’t express support for any exceptions during her remarks. Instead, she said governors don’t write laws, legislatures do.
“I don’t think Arizona should be known as a state to come and get an abortion. … I believe we’ve really, in the past, since Roe v. Wade, we’ve really done a number on our people. We’ve convinced our young girls and, our young boys and our society that it’s acceptable to kill a human being in the womb of the mother. I believe that life is sacred and that you don’t mess with what God wants.”
May 5, 2022
In an appearance on the conservative Newsmax network with host Benny Johnson, Lake discussed protests by abortion-rights supporters after a leaked draft of the forthcoming ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court erasing constitutional protections for the procedure.
“It is almost demonic. It feels very evil. Can you imagine Benny having that much vitriol and being like that and supporting the killing of innocent babies in the mother’s womb? I hope someday they wake up to the lies they’ve been fed about abortion. It is not, it is not health care. It is the killing, it is the sacrifice, it is the execution of a baby in the mother’s womb, and it’s incredibly sad.”
May 10, 2022
During an interview on “The Morning Ritual with Garret Lewis,” Lake emphasized her preference for 19th-century law and said that life begins at conception.
“Well, we have a good law that the governor just signed: No abortions after 15 weeks. But I believe we even have a stronger law on the books that was passed way back in the early 1900s that would outlaw abortion in Arizona. … Obviously, Roe v. Wade kind of fell in the way. I believe that life begins at conception. Again, it’s not totally up to me. You need to have the Legislature decide what to do.”
June 24, 2022
In March 2022, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with no exceptions for rape or incest.
Three months later, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade and left abortion laws to the states. On that day, Lake told KFYI (550 AM) she was excited the state would revert to the 1864 law that is a near-total ban on abortions.
“I’m incredibly thrilled that we are going to have a great law that’s already on the books. I believe it’s (Arizona Revised Statutes) 1336-03 that will prohibit abortion in Arizona except to save the life of a mother. I think we’ll be paving the way and setting course for other states to follow.”
June 29, 2022
At a Republican gubernatorial debate on Arizona PBS, Lake was asked whether the state should use the 15-week abortion ban passed months earlier or the near-total ban from 1864. She went on to say she opposes abortion pills, which are the most common method used to terminate pregnancies.
“My personal belief is that all life matters, all life counts, and all life is precious. And I don’t believe in abortion. I think the older law is going to go into effect. That’s what I believe will happen. I believe life begins at conception.”
Host Ted Simons asked her, “What do we do about abortion pills? What do we do about it?”
Lake responded, “I don’t think abortion pills should be legal.”
Feb. 23, 2023
Months after losing her gubernatorial campaign, Lake expressed no regret about her opposition to abortion rights in an interview with “Full Sheen Ahead,” an internet radio show.
“When I ran for governor, they tried to tell me, ‘You can’t talk about being pro-life. You need to change your stance.’ and I said, ‘Are you kidding? You really want somebody who would run and change their stance on something that is so near and dear to the heart?’
“Instead, I turned it around and I said, ‘We’re on the right side of this, and we need to wake people up as to what the other side is pushing.’ They are pushing downright depravity. They are pushing the taking of a baby’s life right up until birth, and then after, and we need to expose what they’re all about.”
Feb. 19, 2024
Talking to KTAR, Lake said she opposes abortion pills, which involve taking mifepristone and misoprostol.
“I don’t think that women should be taking a pill at home and risking hemorrhaging. I care about women. I care about women’s health, and women’s health is not taking a pill that will have you hemorrhage at home.”
The Guttmacher Institute found that over the 20 years since the government authorized medication abortion, it became the dominant method for the procedure nationally.
The Associated Press, citing research published in the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, reported that less than 1% of women using medication abortions have complications.
March 5, 2024
Lake appeared in Washington, D.C., weeks after the Alabama Supreme Court declared that fetuses created by in vitro fertilization are legally considered children.
Lake told reporters, “I support IVF” with minimal involvement from the federal government, according to Sahil Kapur of NBC News. “I am much more about keeping a lot of this to the states, the less the federal government is getting involved in our lives, the better.”
Legal challenge ends: Supreme Court rejects Kari Lake, Mark Finchem in machine voting lawsuit
April 9, 2024
On the day the Arizona Supreme Court upheld the law she supported as a gubernatorial candidate, Lake said she opposed the decision.
“I wholeheartedly agree with President Trump — this is a very personal issue that should be determined by each individual state and her people,” Lake said in a statement. “I oppose today’s ruling, and I am calling on (Gov.) Katie Hobbs and the State Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support.”
April 11, 2024
Two days after the ruling, Lake rereleased a five-minute video backing away from the ruling while rehashing her personal opposition to abortion rights. After previously describing herself as “100% pro-life,” she also advocated a need for exceptions in abortion laws.
“If you look at where the population is on this, a full ban on abortion is not where the people are,” Lake said.
“I never would ever assume that any woman had the same exact feelings that I had or situation I had. We know that some women are economically in a horrible situation. They might be in an abusive relationship. They might be the victim of rape. I agree with President Trump, we must have exceptions for rape, incest and the life of a mother.”
April 11, 2024
During an event with University of Arizona Republicans in Tucson, an attendee told Lake, “We thought that when you said you supported the 1864 ban, you meant it.” Instead, he asked why “you changed your mind” about “killing babies.”
“You do realize that that law is not going to survive November?” Lake said at the outset of a lengthy answer. Voters are poised to pass a measure that will allow abortion up to nine months into pregnancy, Lake said.
“Sometimes we have to look at the situation we’re in and it’s real easy to be here at the 5-foot level and go, ‘I’m right, you’re wrong.’ But we have to take a step back. I’m not even talking the 30,000-foot level. I’m talking a step back. Six months from now, are you going to be OK with 9-month-old babies being taken? … The voters of this state will vote for that if there’s not an exception for a 10-year-old who’s the victim of incest.
“I want to save every baby. I can’t imagine any circumstance I would choose an abortion, but I’m not standing in the shoes of a woman who’s been beaten by her pimp. I’m not standing in her shoes, and neither are you. Are you standing in the shoes of a woman who has been the victim of a brutal rape? I’d like to think — and I say that I wouldn’t ever choose abortion — and I’d like to think in that situation, I wouldn’t. I have friends who were born who were conceived of rape. … I’m not in their shoes. I’ll tell you where the people of Arizona are. They want exceptions.”
“What is our goal? May I ask: is our goal to ban abortion? Is our goal: should (Arizona) have abortion up to nine months? Or is our goal less about what our law is and more about saving babies? My goal is to save babies. I’m not getting wrapped up and fighting over a week, a law, ban … or whatever it is, I’m not going to get caught up in that. I’m going to get caught up in how can we save babies.”
April 16, 2024
Days after Lake lobbied in vain for some Republican state lawmakers to repeal the 19th-century abortion law, she downplayed the law’s impact at a housing-themed campaign event in Scottsdale and dismissed worries over it because abortion services exist outside the state.
“Everyone’s fighting about a law that’s not even going to be enforced here in Arizona,” Lake said.
“Even if we have a restrictive law here, you can go three hours that way, three hours that way, and you’re going to be able to have an abortion.”
April 20, 2024
Facing criticism from conservatives who viewed her recent rhetoric as a surrender on abortion, Lake told an Idaho group it was regrettable that a near-total ban won’t be enforced in Arizona.
“The Arizona Supreme Court said this is the law of Arizona. But unfortunately, the people running our state have said we’re not going to enforce it, so it’s really political theater,” she said in an interview with the conservative Idaho Dispatch. “We don’t have that law, as much as many of us wish we did.”
Lake went on to falsely claim that a proposed ballot measure in November would give Arizona “the most extreme, radical abortion law in the country.”
“They are behind our backs pushing a law that will be the most extreme in the country that will call for abortion right up until the birth of the baby,” Lake said.
The proposed ballot measure would allow any abortion up to roughly 22 weeks of pregnancy and permit later ones if a “health care provider” deems it “necessary to protect the life or health” of the mother.
While far less restrictive than any Arizona law currently allows, at least five states — Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont — grant abortion rights that have no restrictions based on gestational duration.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Amid Arizona abortion debate, a look at Kari Lake's stance
