Kari Lake's retreat on abortion shows somebody is reading the polls

So, it’s clear.

Kari Lake stands unequivocally opposed to abortion.

Except when she’s not.

She has called abortion “the ultimate sin.”

Yet she now says she doesn’t want to outlaw it nationally.

Trying to nail down where Kari Lake stands on abortion? It’s a lot like trying to sneak up on a roadrunner.

They move this way and that as they quickly bolt for cover.

Lake now opposes a national abortion ban

The New York Times on Saturday observed that Lake is in “tactical retreat” on the issue, with last week’s declaration that she’s opposed to a national abortion ban.

It’s a smart — and probably the only — move a hard-right Republican can make if they want to win a statewide electorate in a swing state.

It is, generally speaking, not a good idea for a candidate to be so totally out of step with voters — especially one who likely will be on the ballot at the same time Arizona voters are deciding whether to enshrine abortion as a constitutional right.

Already six states, including three red ones, have sent a message that the right to abortion should be protected in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade last year.

Arizona could become the seventh next year.

Lake talked differently in run for governor

I’m guessing abortion is an issue Lake would rather just not talk about in her coming campaign for the Senate.

Unfortunately, for her, she opened her mouth plenty during her unsuccessful run for governor.

How does a Trump endorsement: Help Kari Lake win?

There she was in September 2021, extolling the virtues of Texas’ heartbeat bill, which bans abortion after detection of a heartbeat, about six weeks — even in the case of rape or incest. Lake called for Arizona to join Texas in having what was then the most restrictive abortion law in the land.

“I call on the Arizona Legislature to put a carbon copy of Texas S.B. 8 on the Governor’s Desk,” she tweeted in September 2021. “If my Predecessor refuses to sign it, I will do so in a Heartbeat.”

She touted 'a Sanctuary State for the unborn'

There she was in January 2022, promising never to back down.

“ALL Baby Lives Matter — every single heartbeat is a gift from God & we will never stop fighting to protect life,” she tweeted. "We must make Arizona a Sanctuary State for the unborn."

And in February 2022, rooting for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade so that Arizona’s territorial-era law — the one that criminalizes abortion even in cases of rape and incest — could make a comeback.

“I have a good feeling that they’re going to do the right thing,” she said of the U.S. Supreme Court during a Republican candidate forum. “We have a great law on the books right now, if that happens, we will be a state where we will not be taking the lives of our unborn anymore.”

In June 2022, she declined to say which of two conflicting laws she wanted to see in effect — that 1864 abortion ban or the 2022 law that allows abortion up to 15 weeks.

Lake favored Arizona's tougher abortion ban

But there was Lake in July 2022, saying she supports that 1864 law that mandates a two- to five-year prison sentence for anyone who provides an abortion to anyone other than a dying girl or woman.

“My personal belief is that all life matters. All life counts, and all life is precious, and I don’t believe in abortion,” she said during the Republican gubernatorial debate. “I think the older law is going to take and is going to go into effect. That’s what I believe will happen.”

And there she was even just a few weeks later, after a Pima County judge temporarily lifted the 49-year-old injunction that blocked enforcement of that territorial-era abortion ban. (The issue of which law takes precedent is now before the Arizona Supreme Court.)

“I’m pro-life,” Lake said at the time, on Fox News. “I’ve never backed away from that and never will.”

She moderated once, then walked it back

By October 2022, however, she appeared to be backing away from that, telling KTAR’s Mike Broomhead that abortion should be legal in some instances.

“It would be really wonderful if abortion was rare and legal, the way they said it before,” Lake told Broomhead, referring to Bill Clinton and other Democrats who called for abortion to be “safe, legal and rare.”

Her spokesman, Ross Trumble, tried to walk back Lake’s comment, telling the Associated Press she didn’t mean to use the word “legal.”

Sure, after more than a year of being staunchly opposed to abortion, the word “legal” just sort of slipped out of her mouth.

It had nothing, whatsoever, to do with the fact that public opinion polls show the vast majority of Arizonans believe abortion should be legal up to some point. Or the fact that early ballots were hitting mailboxes when she made her comment.

Lake moderates again. Can we believe her?

Fast forward now to Oct. 10, when Lake launched her Senate run in Scottsdale.

There were no specifics on abortion. No fiery talk of a moral imperative or of imprisoning doctors who perform abortions.

“The Republican Party is going to put their money where their mouth is,” Lake told her supporters. “We are going to give them real choices so they can make better choices and not live with that regret.”

One of those choices, apparently, would be abortion.

On her campaign website, Lake now says she would oppose a national abortion ban, preferring to leave the issue to states.

“Arizona’s law currently allows abortions up to 15 weeks, and Kari does not support a federal ban on abortion,” her website says. “Abortion is, as the courts decided, an issue for states to decide, not the federal government.”

So, the “ultimate sin” is … negotiable?

Reach Roberts at laurie.roberts@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @LaurieRoberts.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake's abortion pivot shows someone is reading the polls