Kari Lake Explains Her New Position on ‘Personal and Private’ Abortion Issue: ‘I Chose Life, But I’m Not Every Woman’

Isaac SchorrApr 12th, 2024, 10:36 am
 

Kari Lake’s position on abortion has evolved rapidly over the last few years.

In 2022, during her failed gubernatorial campaign, Lake expressed excitement over the possibility of an old statute instituting a total ban on abortion in Arizona after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“I’m incredibly thrilled that we are going to have a great law that’s already on the books,” mused Lake that summer. “I believe it’s ARS 13-3603, so it will prohibit abortion in Arizona except to save the life of a mother. And I think we’re going to be paving the way and setting course for other states to follow.”

However, when the Arizona Supreme Court upheld that same law earlier this week, Lake, who is now running for U.S. Senate, reacted by declaring that she opposed that decision and even calling on the state’s Democratic governor to enact more pro-choice protections.

Now Lake is doubling down on her new position in a video statement full of rhetoric more common to Democrats than Republicans.

“This total ban on abortion that the Arizona Supreme Court just ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are. The issue is less about banning abortion and more about saving babies,” began Lake. “I agree with President Trump, this is such a personal and private issue. I chose life, but I’m not every woman. I want to make sure that every woman who finds herself pregnant has more choices, so that she can make that choice that I made. I’ll never forget the first time I got pregnant, taking that pregnancy test, looking down, and I was excited. But I’ll be honest, I was afraid as well. I was nervous, I was anxious. It’s natural for women to be nervous and anxious when they’re pregnant. I never would ever assume that any woman had the same exact feelings I had or situation I had. We know that some women are economically in a horrible situation. They might be in an abusive relationship. They might be the victim of rape. I agree with President Trump, we must have exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of a mother.”

Lake went on to champion tax incentives for marriage and procreation as well as to expand on her thoughts on abortion specifically, promising not to support any limits on abortion if she is elected to the Senate:

Right now, we’re in that part where we’re deciding the issue. And yes, it’s painful. Yes it’s difficult. Yes, there are emotions that are so strong and people are angry and people are sad and they’re furious. This is the difficult part. I didn’t get into politics because I thought it was going to be easy, I’m okay with the difficult part. So right now we’re in that part where we need to work through this issue. And thankfully, as we’re working through this issue, it’s not just going to be the abortion extremists calling the shots. People who are pro-life have the ability at this moment, thanks to President Trump, to be involved in this process, to come up with policies that will work to help women and save babies. We knew that when this issue was sent back to the states, there would be debate, there would be argument, there would be teeth gnashing. But we’re going to get through this. We are Americans. Heck, we’re Arizonans, we’re some of the toughest people out there. We’re going to work through this, and on the other side, we’re going to come out much better for it.

“They want this issue to bring down our country. They want Americans at each other’s throats. And this issue has the ability to bring down our country or help save our country. And I want to help save our country,” concluded Lake. “As your senator, I will oppose federal funding for abortion and federal banning of abortion. I’m not going to Washington, D.C. to impose federal restrictions on something that’s already been sent back to the states. I’m going to Washington, D.C. to secure our borders, strengthen our families, and help President Trump make America great again.”

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