Kari Lake Wants You To Forget She Supported Arizona’s Near-Total Abortion Ban

When Arizona’s state Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a near-total abortion ban on the books since 1864, Kari Lake, the leading GOP candidate for Senate in the swing state, came out forcefully against the decision.

“I wholeheartedly agree with [former] President [Donald] Trump — this is a very personal issue that should be determined by each individual state and her people,” Lake said in a statement that noted her status as the “only woman and mother” in the Senate race. “I oppose today’s ruling, and I am calling on [Arizona Gov.] Katie Hobbs and the State Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support.”

But in February 2022, when Lake appeared at a candidate forum while running for governor, her thoughts on the near-total ban were much different.

“We have a great law on the books right now,” Lake said of the old law, which had become unenforceable under Roe v. Wade. A month later, Arizona passed a 15-week ban in anticipation of the Supreme Court’s decision ultimately overturning abortion protections.

If Roe v. Wade was struck down, Lake said at the time, “we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore.”

Lake changed her position in February of this year when she told NBC News she supported the state’s 15-week abortion ban, rather than the 1864 measure known as the “territorial law” because it predates Arizona’s statehood. Arizona re-codified the ban, which only offers an exception for the life of the mother, in 1912, after it was admitted to the Union. The law has no exceptions for rape or incest, and doctors found guilty of performing the procedure face up to five years in prison.

Lake’s flip is one of the most glaring among the several