Arizona House Democrats Start Process of Repealing State's Abortion Law. Three Republicans Lend a Hand.

RedState previously wrote about Arizona's Supreme Court upholding a 123-year-old state law about abortion on April 9th:

On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court upheld a 123-year-old law essentially banning abortion except to save the life of the mother. The law also carries possible prison sentences for abortion providers. At present the enforcement of the law is on a 14-day stay.
...
In 2022, Arizona passed a law allowing abortions up to 15 weeks' gestation, which conflicted with the older law.

And progressives' immediate reaction--with urging from President Joe Biden and pro-abortion groups--was to swiftly move to block the law.

Background: Arizona Supreme Court Upholds 123-Year-Old Abortion Law

In the Wake of the AZ SCOTUS Abortion Decision, Nicole Shanahan Tries to Split the Baby

They've now accomplished the first step. On Wednesday, Democrats in the statehouse managed to get the legislation passed and on its way to the state Senate--with help from three Republicans.

via the AP:

PHOENIX (AP) — A proposed repeal of Arizona’s near-total ban on abortions won approval from the state House Wednesday after two weeks of mounting pressure on Republicans.[...]
Three Republicans joined in with all 29 Democrats Wednesday to repeal a law that predated Arizona’s statehood and provides no exceptions for rape or incest. If the Senate approves as expected, Arizona would allow abortions up to 15 weeks.
....[U]ntil Wednesday, most state House Republicans repeatedly used procedural votes to block repeal, each time drawing condemnation from Democratic President Joe Biden, who has made his support for abortion rights central to his reelection campaign.

The Center Square's Cameron Arcand reported on the three Republicans who helped out the Dems on Wednesday:

BREAKING: ARIZONA HOUSE PASSES BILL THAT WOULD REPEAL ABORTION BAN LAW IF IT’S PASSED BY SENATE, SIGNED BY GOV. HOBBS.

VOTE IS 32-28 ON HB2677.

REPUBLICANS DUNN, WILMETH, AND GRESS VOTE FOR BILL.
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) April 24, 2024

Arcand added that after the vote, Arizona state House Speaker Ben Toma removed one of the Republicans (and a Democrat) from committee assignments:

“CAUSE I’VE DECIDED IT”: Speaker Toma said in decision to remove Gress from appropriations committee, saying he’s not considering similar action again Dunn and Wilmeth.
— Cameron Arcand (@cameron_arcand) April 24, 2024

In a statement state Rep. Matt Gress released, he called the law “unworkable and out of line with the values of Arizonans.”

Dunn also commented on his vote for the Democrat bill:

GOP Rep. Tim Dunn said counterintuitively that his vote in favor of repeal was “the most pro-life vote I could possibly make” because, he said, backlash to the total ban would lead voters to support abortion even after 15 weeks.

You can find state Rep. Dunn's full statement here.

State Rep. Rachel Jones, another Republican, voted nay. She explained why: “I am disgusted today. Life is one of the tenets of our Republican platform. To see people go back on that value is egregious to me.”

The bill is not expected to pass the state Senate immediately:

I'm being told by sources to not expect the State Senate version of the abortion ban repeal to make it through the chamber until at least May 1st.
— The AZ - abc15 - Data Guru (@Garrett_Archer) April 24, 2024

This is a developing story. RedState will bring you updates as they become available.