Kari Lake Shamelessly Tries To Hide Her Extreme And Out-Of-Touch Views On Abortion

Lake enthusiastically supports Civil War-era law criminalizing abortion, and has called for making abortion pills illegal

PHOENIX – Today, delivering what she described as a victory speech, unhinged candidate for governor Kari Lake sought to paper over her dangerous views on abortion in an attempt to start overcoming her double-digit polling deficit to Katie Hobbs on this issue. However, in a July Republican primary debate, Lake unequivocally stated her support for Arizona’s Civil War era territorial abortion ban that effectively outlaws abortion and requires prison time for doctors, and she called for making medication abortion illegal. And in February, Lake said that the Civil War era law was “great,” and waxed poetic about mutilated babies.

During her Aug. 3 press conference, Lake was asked, “Very red Kansas yesterday, the voters there said they do not want additional abortion restrictions. Does that put you out of step with what a lot of people want?” Lake responded:

“The Supreme Court simply sent the abortion issue back to the states. We have laws on the books right now. We’re going to follow the laws that are on the books. If people don’t like the laws on the books, then they need to elect representatives who will change the laws. I’m running for governor, not for God. So I don’t get to write the laws … and I think you know that, but I will uphold the laws that are on the books.”

But just over a month ago, during a Republican primary debate, Lake said:

“My personal belief is that all life matters. All life counts, and all life is precious, and I don’t believe in abortion. I think the older law is going to take and is going to go into effect that’s what I believe will happen … I believe life begins at conception. I don’t think abortion pills should be legal.

And during a February 2022 Republican candidate forum, Lake said:

“I think the Supreme Court — I have a good feeling that they’re going to do the right thing … We have a great law on the books right now, if that happens, we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore … And unfortunately, the culture in which we live has brainwashed an entire generation of our young people to think that this is a legitimate option to basically mutilate and cut up a baby inside the mother’s womb. It’s horrifying.”

Kari Lake may think she can have it both ways, but Arizonans will not be fooled by her about-face on the issue of reproductive freedom. Lake is wildly out of touch with the majority of Arizonans who support the right to choose. Arizonans will remember her record in November.