Arizona took a major step on Wednesday toward scrapping an 1864 law banning abortion, when three Republican lawmakers in the state House of Representatives broke ranks with their party and voted with Democrats to repeal the ban.
Republican leaders had thwarted earlier repeal efforts in the two weeks since the Arizona Supreme Court ignited a political firestorm by reviving the Civil War-era law, which outlaws abortions from the moment of conception except to save the mother’s life.
“The people of Arizona are waiting for us to get this done,” said Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, a Democrat, who introduced the one-sentence bill to undo the 1864 law.
Many voters denounced the ban — which provides no exceptions for cases of rape or incest — as a draconian intrusion into women’s rights. And some Republicans — including former President Donald J. Trump — said they wanted the Legislature to scrap it quickly, to try to head off a possible election-year backlash.
The repeal bill now goes to the Arizona State Senate, where Republicans have a narrow majority. Lawmakers said they did not expect a final vote in that chamber until next week at the soonest.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat and a vocal supporter of abortion rights, has been urging lawmakers to repeal the 1864 law, and is expected to sign a repeal if it reaches her desk.
The revival of the old law, which has galvanized activists and which many voters call outdated and extreme, created a rift within the Republican Party that burst into the open on Wednesday in an emotional session of the Arizona House. Republican lawmakers made speeches offering graphic descriptions of abortions, equating the procedure with slavery and murder.
“We’re willing to kill infants in order to win an election,” said Rep. Alexander Kolodin, a Republican.
Abortion opponents who hold sway in Arizona have urged Republican state lawmakers not to overturn the ban. They say it is a good law that protects women and babies.
“I am really pleased that we have that law,” said State Senator David Farnsworth, a Republican who opposes repeal. “I’ve been criticized for my stance, but I’ve always said I’m 100 percent pro-life. I believe strongly in biblical teachings.”
Though the state’s highest court ruled that the ban could be enforced, it would not go back into effect before June 8, according to Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat.
Political analysts said Republicans who voted to go around their leaders risked alienating their own voters in conservative districts, as well as jeopardizing their other priorities as the Legislature starts working to pass Arizona’s annual budget.
The House speaker, Ben Toma, a Republican who cast a decisive vote against a repeal bill last week, has said that he does not support repealing the law. He has significant control over which bills get a hearing or vote.
“I happen to think that abortion is wrong,” Mr. Toma said in an interview last week. “It comes down to: What do I think is right? What is just? What is ethical? And I have made my decision. And I am not going to change my mind.”
On Tuesday, some lawmakers who support repealing the ban said that they were calling their allies and reaching out to Republicans who might change their votes.
“I’ve been told we should be able to get it done tomorrow, but anything can happen,” Ms. Stahl Hamilton said. “This is particularly frustrating. I don’t want to lose my resolve to try and get this done.”
The fight over the 1864 ban has consumed Arizona politics since the State Supreme Court revived it on April 9, saying that it could be enforced even though Arizona had also passed a law two years ago that allowed abortions through 15 weeks.
The court put its ruling temporarily on hold, meaning that abortions have been allowed to continue under the rules that have been in place in Arizona since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. Abortion providers, who face two to five years in prison if convicted under the 1864 law, said they were likely to stop performing all abortions once it takes effect.
But there is growing tension and disagreement over when, exactly, that might be.
Ms. Mayes has said that she will not enforce the 1864 law. She has also said that her office was exploring other legal challenges that could delay its implementation beyond June 8.
On Tuesday night, Ms. Mayes asked the State Supreme Court to reconsider its decision on the ground that Arizona’s 15-week law permits abortions up to that point.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian group that argued in court to uphold the ban, said it believed county prosecutors could start enforcing the law this week.
Because the legislature is meeting only once a week, lawmakers and abortion providers worry that their window is closing rapidly.
“There is a lot of concern,” said State Senator Eva Burch, a Democrat and nurse practitioner who gave a speech last month describing how she had to get an abortion to terminate a nonviable pregnancy. “It’s a scary time to be a pregnant person in Arizona.”
