Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Arizona’s Supreme Court went too far in ruling the state’s 160-year-old near-total abortion ban can be enforced.
Trump made the comment while speaking to reporters after landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ahead of a campaign fundraiser.
“Yeah, they did,” Trump said about the court’s judges when asked if they went too far. “That’ll be straightened out, and as you know it’s all about states’ rights.”
The former president predicted that Arizona’s governor and others “are going to bring it back into reason.”
While he said the court overstepped, Trump also reiterated his position that the issue of abortion should be left up to states.
“It’s the will of the people,” he said.
Under the law from 1864, anyone who performs the procedure or helps a woman access that care could face felony charges and up to two to five years in prison. The law includes an exception to save the woman’s life.
Trump’s remarks come after he clarified his position on abortion on Monday, saying that laws surrounding the procedure should be controlled by individual states. He did not take a position, however, on the possibility of a national abortion ban that has been pushed by conservatives in Congress, including many of his allies.
“My view is, now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,” Trump said in a more than four-minute-long video posted on his Truth Social account.
His position has drawn blowback from some Republicans, who have wanted Trump to promote the possibility of a national ban. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for example, criticized Trump in a statement. “Dobbs does not require that conclusion legally and the pro-life movement has always been about the wellbeing of the unborn child — not geography,” he said.
Hours after Arizona’s court ruling, a number of Republicans began distancing themselves from it, including GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake who had previously called the statute “a great law.”
Trump’s comments at the airport Wednesday came after he greeted a small crowd of his supporters. While speaking to cameras, Trump blasted President Joe Biden and his leadership, saying that he has “abandoned Israel” and repeated a line he recently made.
“Any Jewish person that votes for a Democrat or votes for Biden should have their head examined,” he said.
