Kari Lake Tells Local Radio She is For ‘Rare and Legal’ Abortion, Campaign Immediately Says She Misspoke

Mario Tama, Getty Images

Republican nominee for governor of Arizona, Kari Lake, told a Phoenix talk radio host on Tuesday that she believes abortion should be rare, but not illegal – at one point even saying abortion should be “rare and legal.”

Lake’s campaign quickly released a statement and walked back Lake’s “rare but legal” comment, saying that she had intended to say “rare but safe.”

“You know, it would be really wonderful if abortion was rare and legal — the way they said it before, remember? Rare but safe, rare but safe, I think is what they said,” Lake told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s The Mike Broomhead Show.

Lake appeared to reference former President Bill Clinton’s well-known abortion mantra from the 1990s, which was “safe, legal and rare.”

“It’d be really wonderful if that’s how it turned out. But that’s not what they want, Mike. They don’t want rare but safe.”

“It went from rare and legal to an abortion right up until the baby’s born,” Lake added, echoing to common GOP talking point on the issue this election cycle.

“That’s not right. And now they want to make somebody who is pro-life seem like they’re radical. I’m not radical. We’re not radical for being pro-life.”

Last month a Tucson judge reinstated Arizona’s abortion ban from 1864, stopping all abortions in the state unless a mother’s life is at risk. The state also recently passed a law banning abortion after 15 weeks, which has led to confusion in the state.

Lake addressed that confusion with Broomhead, saying, “I’m confused. We appear to have two laws, and there seems to be some controversy in which law it’s going to be.”

Ross Trumble, the spokesman for Lake who released a statement saying she is not for “rare and legal” abortions noted that Lakes “rare and safe” standard would fit under either law.

“‘Rare but safe’ would apply to whatever the current law is interpreted to mean,” Trumble noted.
Lake’s comments to Broomhead mark her most extensive remarks on the issue since the judge reinstated the 1846 law banning abortion in the state.

Lake’s opponent, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), lays out her position on her website: “Let me be clear — the decision to have a child should rest solely between a woman and her doctor, not the government or politicians.”

Lake, a longtime Phoenix-area newscaster, has run a hard-right campaign promoting former President Donald Trump’s debunked allegations that 2020 election was stolen and is effectively tied in the polls with her Democratic opponent.

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