Politicians in Arizona have voted to repeal an abortion ban dating back to the civil war after warnings from Donald Trump and Republican leaders that it would be politically toxic in an election year.
The lower house of the state’s general assembly voted to overturn the law, which would criminalise abortion at all stages of pregnancy, after the state supreme court cleared the way for its enforcement earlier this month. The ban was set to come into force in June.
Three Republicans sided with every Democrat in the house to repeal the ban, which would have made no exceptions for rape or incest. The law was first passed in 1864, decades before Arizona was formally admitted to the United States.
President Biden condemned the state
