Kari Lake Is Urging Abortion Ban Repeal: Sources

Kari Lake denounced Arizona's 1864 abortion ban almost immediately after a court ruling said the controversial law could go into effect, but the Republican Senate candidate is going further than that. Sources tell outlets including the New York Times that Lake, the former TV news anchor and Trump ally who lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs in Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial election, has been calling state legislators urging them to repeal the law and offering her support to any efforts to do so. Interestingly, when running for governor, Lake said the law was "great" and that she'd support a court decision on whether it could be implemented, CNN reports.

• Here's how Politico frames it: "Kari Lake is personally lobbying Arizona state lawmakers to repeal a Civil War-era law effectively outlawing abortion—the clearest sign yet that she fears the GOP's hardline stance on the issue will hurt her campaign in the fall."
• She's not the only Republican to do a 180, with some Republican state legislators also calling for it to be repealed—but a GOP strategist in Arizona says hardline Republicans in the GOP-controlled legislature are unlikely to be persuaded to back a repeal, even by Lake or Donald Trump.
• It's not clear what the next steps are. The Arizona House reconvenes Wednesday, NBC News reports. The court issued a waiting period before the law goes into effect.

(Trump, Sean Hannity, and other big Republican names have spoken out against the law.)