Conservative ex-governor slams bombshell Arizona Supreme Court decision — from justices he appointed

Arizona became the new epicenter of the abortion rights battle when, early Tuesday afternoon, April 9, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an 1864 law that is even more draconian than Florida's six-week abortion ban.

Passed when Abraham Lincoln was president and Arizona was still a territory, the law was rendered unenforceable by the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade ruling 109 years later. But with Roe having been overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in 2022, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled, 4-2, that the 1864 law is enforceable once again.

Prominent Democrats, including President Joe Biden, have been quick to attack the Arizona ruling and blame former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a conservative non-MAGA Republican, is criticizing the decision as going too far — even though some of the justices who voted to uphold the 1864 law are people he appointed.

READ MORE: 'Massive implications for November': AZ Supreme Court upholds 19th Century anti-abortion law

In 2022, Ducey signed into law a 15-week abortion ban. But in an April 9 post on X, formerly Twitter, the ex-governor criticized the Arizona Supreme Court decision as "not the outcome I would have preferred," while defending the bill he signed as "thoughtful conservative policy" and "an approach to this very sensitive issue that Arizonans can actually agree on."

According to Associated Press reporter Mead Gruver, "His comment followed the better part of two years of legal wrangling over the 1864 Arizona law. The (Arizona) Supreme Court ruling took a fair amount of time, four months after arguments before the Court and longer than some expected, said Barbara Atwood, professor emerita at the University of Arizona Law School….. Besides Ducey's five appointees, one of whom abstained from the ruling, two are appointees of Jan Brewer, Arizona's Republican governor from 2009-2015."

Gruver adds, "Ducey had defended his expansion of the court from five to seven justices. He said the state had outgrown the smaller court, and an expansion was long expected. The justices, at the time, said their workload was manageable and opposed the move."

In the Arizona State Legislature, Democrats proposed bills to overturn the 1864 law. But the bills were blocked by GOP state lawmakers.

READ MORE: Arizona Republicans block Democrats’ bills to repeal 1864 near-total abortion ban

Read the Associated Press' full report at this link.