Kari Lake's newest stake on abortion exposes Democrats as the fanatics

If ever there was a sign that Arizona is ultimately headed toward  more moderate laws on abortion, it was Kari Lake’s comments on Tuesday.

She said abortion should be “legal and rare.”

Lake, the Republican candidate for governor, was echoing Bill Clinton’s locution that abortion should be “safe, legal and rare.”

Clinton said it in 1992 when Democrats still felt queasy about ending life in the womb, yet confident it's a woman’s right to choose.

Those days are gone. More and more, the modern Democratic Party rejects Clinton’s formulation.

Today’s Democrats, and you see this reflected in their Arizona candidates for state office, promote abortion on demand, unbound from regulation.

That is not where the American people are.

Kari Lake was also out of synch with American attitudes when she ran in the Republican primary. Her then-extreme view was for near-blanket bans.

Americans are moderates on abortion access

Americans are not extremists on abortion. Not to the left, not to the right.

They’re moderates.

The Economist and YouGov run tracking polls that show U.S. attitudes on abortion slice the pie this way:

• 30% support legal abortion in all cases. No restrictions.

• 30% support some restrictions such as for minors or late-term abortions.

• 30% favor restrictions on all abortions, but for rape, incest or when the mother’s life is endangered.

• 10% believe abortion should be banned in all cases.

Taken together a significant majority of Americans, 60-40, say abortion should be safe and legal. But an even larger majority say abortion should face restrictions ranging from nominal to complete.

LACK OF CLARITY: As confusion over abortion reigns, medical association, doctor sue to restart procedure

The big picture here is that the Clinton formula still holds sway. Safe. Legal. Rare.

Kari Lake's remarks Tuesday on KTAR’s Mike Broomhead Show - if she sticks to it - place her in the broad middle of American voters who believe that abortion should be legal, but with restrictions.

Lake just put herself smack dab in the center

That’s not the tune she was singing in June.

Then she backed the conservative hardline on abortion and supported reinstatement of a Civil War-era law that would prohibit virtually all abortions in Arizona.

“We have a great law on the books right now, if that happens (Roe is overturned), we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore,” she said.

After the high Court overturned Roe, Lake began her tack to the center.

Here’s what she said in August:

“The Supreme Court simply sent the abortion issue back to the states. We have laws on the books right now. We’re going to follow the laws that are on the books. If people don’t like the laws on the books, then they need to elect representatives who will change the laws. I’m running for governor, not for God. So I don’t get to write the laws … and I think you know that, but I will uphold the laws that are on the books.”

Now it's the Democrats who appear fanatical

Abortion law in Arizona is a complete hash following the Supreme Court decision in June. Two laws guide the state and they contradict each other - the Civil War-era near-blanket ban and this year's law banning abortion after 15 weeks. The Legislature and the courts will eventually settle the matter.

By saying she will respect the will of the Legislature and the courts, Lake is telling Arizonans she’s not a maximalist on abortion.

That’s not what we’re hearing from Democratic candidates for attorney general and Maricopa County attorney, Kris Mayes and Julie Gunnigle. Both say they would use prosecutorial discretion to avoid criminalizing abortion. To their credit, they’ve been consistent.

They represent the direction of the Democratic Party that has in recent years taken a sharp left turn on many issues, including abortion.

Despite Lake's flip-flop, it matters that the most highly visible MAGA candidate in Arizona is moving in the direction of our establishment-Republican governor Doug Ducey.

Ducey has argued since before the Supreme Court ruling that the 15-week law he signed earlier this year should hold sway over the near-total ban that evolved from Arizona Territory law.

If you care about the rights of the unborn, a moderate approach to abortion is going to save more lives than a near-total ban. Republicans who call for complete bans on abortion will lose elections, and Democrats will write abortion law that reflects the party’s embrace of abortion on demand.

Life in the womb will be at greater risk.

It was a given that Democrats and media would mock Lake's whiplash turn on abortion. But MAGA candidates didn’t invent election-year pivots. Those flip-flops get a lot of wear in both parties. Usually they're worn with a little more finesse than we've seen from this year's Republicans.

I’m no fan of MAGA, but it gives me comfort knowing Kari Lake isn’t always the razor-edged fanatic she plays on TV, especially since there's a pretty good chance she'll one day be governor.

Phil Boas is an editorial columnist with The Arizona Republic. He can be reached at 602-444-8292 or phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Wait, did Kari Lake's flip-flop on abortion just exposed the Democrats?