This week, Arizona's Supreme Court of all Republicans leaned on an 1864 law to outlaw abortion. It was a Civil War-era law that kept men from harming pregnant women. Now, state legislators are weaponizing it against them.
In 1864, medical professionals didn't know about infections. They used ether or chloroform for anesthesia, and treated wounds with amputation. It was 20 years before they mistook cocaine as a painkiller.
In 1864, women couldn't vote. They had just received legal control over their wages, which, if they worked, were half of a man's.
There are laws from centuries ago that make sense, e.g., our constitution, but we should not be taking reproductive healthcare cues from the Civil War.
Now, after the defeat of Roe v. Wade, Arizona's draconian law will be back on the books, which will implement a total ban on abortion across the state. Only 6% of Arizonans said abortion should be illegal in all cases. This law specifies all cases unless to save the life of the woman.
It was a law written by one white man and approved by 27 other white men when women and all minorities had few or no rights.
Without federal protection of women's rights, this is how states will trample on choice. My opponent, Rep. Jack Bergman, supports it. I do not.
The GOP is trying to take America backward by nearly 160 years.