"You can go three hours that way": Kari Lake and Arizona GOP can't decide if abortion is bad or not

"You can go three hours that way": Kari Lake and Arizona GOP can't decide if abortion is bad or not
Republicans in the state legislature can't seem to commit to a stance on abortion publicly

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 18, 2024 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) Abortion is supposedly an act that is so evil it's tantamount to murder — yet it is somehow less wicked if someone takes a road trip before doing it. That appears to be the bizarre opinion of Kari Lake, failed gubernatorial candidate turned current Republican candidate for Senate from Arizona. At a Tuesday campaign event, Lake was dismissive towards people who are angry about a recent state supreme court ruling that resurrected a near-total abortion ban that was initially passed 55 years before women had the right to vote.

"Even if we have a restrictive law here," Lake tried to assure the concerned crowd, "you can go three hours that way, three hours that way, and you're going to be able to have an abortion."

The comment is confounding in multiple ways, and it's just the latest twist in Lake's ever-changing position on abortion. In 2022, she insisted that bringing back the 1864 law was a good idea because "life begins at conception." After the court's wildly unpopular decision, however, she discovered she could set aside her alleged deep moral qualms with abortion to denounce the ruling. Then again on Tuesday, she seemed to be fine with the ruling, not because of deep moral qualms but because she sees it as no big deal to make someone drive three hours to get an abortion.

....(snip)....

Rather than dealing honestly with the public, Republicans are scheming to find a way to trick voters into accidentally giving away their rights. On Monday, NBC News exposed a strategy document shared internally by party leaders, which offered ideas to bamboozle people about abortion measures on the ballot. The document suggested piling multiple, conflicting ballot measures onto voters, to confuse them about how to fill out the ballot to protect abortion rights. Should the will of the masses prevail and abortion is re-legalized, they suggested abusing the power of the health regulatory framework to make it more difficult and expensive for providers to offer abortion services. ............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/18/you-can-go-three-hours-that-way-kari-lake-and-arizona-cant-decide-if-abortion-is-or-not/