Every four years, you hear it: Elections have consequences. But it’s sometimes forgotten that the rule doesn’t apply to just presidential races, but also to every race down ballot, every election.
To know why, look at what happened in Arizona this past week.
The Arizona state Supreme Court ruled an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions is enforceable, staying the decision for two weeks. On Wednesday, Republicans in the state Legislature blocked an effort by Democrats to repeal the 160-year-old law.
But whether or not it’s actually enforced was likely decided nearly two years ago by just 280 Arizona voters. That development shows why it’s vital to have plans in place to protect reproductive rights at every level of government.
Just months after conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices overturned Roe v. Wade, Arizonans went to vote in the 2022 midterms. Among the various races on the ballot that year was one between Democratic attorney Kris Mayes and Republican former prosecutor Abraham Hamadeh for state attorney general.
At that point, the possibility of Arizona’s highest court reviving the 1864 law was hypothetical, but it was a dividing line between the two candidates. Hamadeh wouldn’t say whether he personally supported it but vowed to interpret and enforce the law as written. Meanwhile, Mayes assured voters she would not prosecute medical providers who facilitated abortions and said that privacy clauses in the state’s constitution rendered abortion bans illegal in the state.
Mayes narrowly won that race in 2022, and as attorney general renewed her promise this week, closing off the potential for any state prosecutions of abortion clinics. And under an executive order signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs, who also won in 2022, county attorneys were stripped of the power to handle abortion cases. If that stands, Arizonans could continue to access abortion services until they get a chance to vote on a likely ballot measure this fall.
Whether Arizonans will be able to get abortions this year will likely come down to 280 votes cast in a single race two years ago.
Again, to be clear, whether Arizonans will be able to get abortions this year will likely come down to 280 votes cast in a single race two years ago.
It did not have to be that close. The 2022 Arizona attorney general’s race saw nearly 60,000 fewer votes cast than in the Senate race on the same ballot and more than 47,000 fewer votes than in the gubernatorial race. Tens of thousands did not vote in that race, passing up an opportunity to have their voices heard.
As Arizonans are learning the hard way, losing the ability to make decisions about your own body is no longer hypothetical. It is here, and it is deadly. Doctors in Arizona are scared for their patients’ lives. And it’s not confined to the Grand Canyon State.
In Ohio, Brittany Watts was arrested and criminally charged after suffering a miscarriage. A grand jury later dropped those charges. A Texas woman, Kate Cox, was forced to travel out of state to obtain an abortion for a pregnancy with a fatal chromosomal abnormality that put her health in jeopardy. Another Texas woman, Amanda Zurawski, wound up in intensive care with sepsis. She nearly died twice before finally getting the lifesaving care she desperately needed after her miscarriage. Now, due to the infection, Zurawski may never get pregnant again.
Don’t be fooled by some Republican lawmakers insisting this issue should be left to the states — efforts to bring deadly abortion bans at the federal level are already well underway.
As recently as last month, 145 congressional Republicans signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, urging it to revive enforcement of the Comstock Act of 1873. That 150-year-old law could ban the mailing of pills prescribed for the most widely used method of medication abortion. If Donald Trump reaches the White House again, his administration could begin enforcing the Comstock Act with no input from Congress or the nation’s highest court. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham reiterated his support for a national ban this week, even saying Trump is making a “mistake” by calling for the issue to be left up to the states (for now). A reminder: Trump has flip-flopped on this issue many times, at one point saying there should be some sort of punishment for women who receive abortions. It seems Trump will say whatever he thinks will get him elected, but that has little relation to what he may actually do in office. Republican politicians think they know better than women and their doctors. From the federal level to the state level, Republican politicians think they know better than women and their doctors. With Florida’s six-week abortion ban set to go into effect next month, nearly every woman in the southeastern United States will live under an outright ban on abortion or severe restrictions. If an abortion is urgently needed, every second will count. These bans can and have endangered women’s lives. Majority-male legislatures are endangering women’s lives and prolonging cycles of poverty. They’re pushing past doctors and foisting their medical ignorance and bizarre fanaticism onto their constituents. Little girls are being forced to have their rapist’s child. Doctors are forced to choose between their patients’ health and their legal safety. This is post-Roe America. And there will be no protection from its effects until the right of a woman to make decisions about her own body is codified into federal law. That won’t happen until the political landscape on Capitol Hill changes. November is our chance to choose, and that election will have consequences for all of us. For more thought-provoking insights from Symone Sanders-Townsend, Michael Steele and Alicia Menendez, watch “The Weekend” every Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. ET on MSNBC.
Symone D. Sanders Townsend is an author and a co-host of "The Weeknight."
Evan Brechtel
Evan Brechtel is a segment producer on MSNBC's "The Weekend." 
