'One person responsible': Biden campaign blames Trump after Arizona abortion ruling

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden's reelection campaign and his administration worked to blame Donald Trump after the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a 160-year-old abortion ban that could shutter abortion clinics in the state.

“Arizona just rolled back the clock to a time before women could vote – and, by his own admission, there’s one person responsible: Donald Trump," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement.

Arizona's ruling − which has major political repercussions in a key battleground state − came a day after Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee and former president, said individual states should be able to choose their own abortion restrictions after months of sending mixed signals on the issue.

In the same video statement, Trump said he was "proudly the person responsible" for ending Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that provided a constitutional right to an abortion for five decades.

Democrats slammed the Arizona ruling as the product of Trump's three Supreme Court appointments, all of whom ruled in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade.

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"Today, because Donald Trump overturned Roe v. Wade, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld an abortion ban from 1864 with no exceptions for health, rape or incest," Biden campaign spokeswoman Brooke Goren said. "It’s alarming and will send shockwaves throughout this crucial swing state and the country."

Dobbs precedent leads to Arizona decision

The 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade is cited 22 times in the Arizona Supreme Court's 4-2 ruling, which upheld a law that predates Arizona's statehood that requires two to five years in prison for anyone aiding an abortion, except if the procedure is necessary to save the life of the mother.

Pointing to the new Dobbs precedent, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a new state law passed in 2022, which prohibited abortions in Arizona after 15 weeks, did not repeal the pre-statehood law nor create a right to abortion. 

"This ruling is a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom," Biden said in a statement.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said millions of Arizonans will soon face a "more extreme and dangerous abortion ban" than they did before as a result of the ruling. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, she said 21 states have adopted abortion bans, affecting one-third of all American women of reproductive age.

"All of these bans, including the one upheld today by the Arizona Supreme Court, are a direct result of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade," Jean-Pierre said, accusing Trump's handpicked justices of paving the way for "chaos and confusion" across the country.

Trump said Wednesday he would not sign a federal abortion ban if he's elected to a second term.

He also sought to distance himself from the Arizona ruling when a reporter asked him whether the state went “too far” on abortion restrictions. “Yeah, they did,” Trump said after landing in Atlanta for a fundraiser.

"It'll be straightened out," he added. "And I’m sure that the governor and everybody else are going to bring it back into reason.”

The Arizona court decision came a week after the Florida State Supreme Court upheld Florida's strict abortion laws − allowing a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy to go in effect in May − but in a separate decision ruled that a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to an abortion can go before voters on the November ballot.

Voters might have final say in Arizona

Like in Florida, abortion might also go before voters on the November ballot in Arizona. Abortion advocates in the state say they've already collected more than 500,000 signatures, well above the threshold of 383,923 signatures needed to trigger a referendum by an early July deadline.

Democrats believe a ballot initiative on abortion in Arizona would give a boost both to Biden and Democrats in the race to replace independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who opted against reelection.

The Biden campaign has sought to make restoring abortion rights a defining issue in the 2024 campaign. The abortion issue is widely credited with energizing Democrats in the 2022 midterms to help the party exceed expectations. And it has also been a winner for Democrats in several state referendums since Roe's collapse.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who is seeking the Democratic nomination for Sinema's seat, called the ruling "devastating for Arizona women and their families."

Kari Lake, a Trump-backed Republican running for the Arizona Senate, also said she opposes the court's decision.

"It is abundantly clear that the pre-statehood law is out of step with Arizonans," Lake said.

Harris, the Biden administration's leading voice on reproductive rights, plans to visit Tucson, Arizona, on Friday in the wake of the ruling.

"The American people believe that health care decisions should be made between women and their doctors, not politicians, and we are ready to stand up to fight for our most fundamental freedoms," Harris said.

Contributing: Zac Anderson and David Jackson