Mark Brnovich wants to send women back to 1864 on abortion. What's wrong with him?

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich insists on sending women back to territorial times – an era when they couldn’t vote or keep a job after becoming pregnant.

Thankfully, Brnovich doesn’t have a magic wand to wave women back to that dark age, but he sure is using his legal powers to try to give modern-day females a taste of what it was like in at least one aspect – abortion.

The attorney general, whose irrational ideas weren’t crazy enough to clinch the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, still wants to enforce a territorial law banning nearly all abortions and thus penalize those who defy it with harsh prison sentences.

Brnovich is arguing for the stricter 1864 law

Last week, his attorneys essentially asked a Pima County judge to let an anti-abortion law first enacted in 1864 override all others passed since then.

The practical implication is to ban the procedure in most instances, except to save the life of the mother. Under such law, anyone who facilitates a procedure that causes a miscarriage or abortion can face a prison sentence between two and five years.

Unreal, right?

Keep it legal: Planned Parenthood asks court to stop 1864 law

The legal entanglement grew out of the recent U.S. Supreme Court majority decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which in 1973 gave women the right to an abortion.

That ruling means states can now set their own laws on abortion. Thirteen states had “trigger laws” ready to take effect automatically after Roe v. Wave was overturned.

In all, 22 states have laws with various types of abortion bans, including seven with pre-Roe bans, according to Guttmacher Institute.

Judge could halt 15-week abortion ban

In Arizona, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. That law is set to take effect on Sept. 24 – unless Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson rules otherwise.

Whatever Judge Johnson decides in the next few weeks, expect the legal fight to continue – unless Brnovich comes to his senses and drops his ridiculous quest.

Has Brnovich forgotten he already lost the GOP primary? Has he forgotten there’s no need to be tough on abortion to convince a few retrogrades to vote for him?

The majority, or 61%, of American adults say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to the Pew Research Center.

Arizonans aren’t anexception. The majority, or 52%, of registered voters said in a July OH Predictive poll that they oppose the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

That could be bad news for the GOP

While Republican voters picked candidates with extreme views on abortion and other issues, a broader electorate will ultimately determine the winners and losers in November. That’s where reproductive rights are likely to have a huge impact, especially among women voters.

The women of 2022 must not bow their heads and meekly accept the retrogrades’ decision to take away their right to decide for themselves what to do with their bodies.

Brnovich should know this – and if he does, he surely doesn’t care.

This isn’t 1864, when women didn’t have any rights and couldn’t tell the men to back off.

This is 2022, when women have the power to oust any and all retrogrades who want to send them back to dark ages.

Elvia Díaz is the editorial page editor for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1. 

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: If Arizona goes back to 1864 on abortion, Republicans will pay