(NEWSnet/AP) – Democrats at the Arizona Legislature will attempt Wednesday to repeal the state's near-total ban on abortions, focusing on an issue that has put Republicans on the defensive in a battleground state for the November election.

This would be the third straight week for such an attempt at the statehouse.

Republicans have used procedural votes to block previous efforts

Arizona Republicans are under intense scrutiny from conservatives who firmly support the abortion ban, even as the 1864 law becomes a liability with swing voters who could decide crucial races including the presidency, the U.S. Senate and the GOP's control of the Legislature.

The Arizona Supreme Court concluded the state can enforce a long-dormant law that permits abortions only to save the pregnant patient's life. The ruling suggested doctors could be prosecuted under the law first approved in 1864, which carries a sentence of two to five years in prison for anyone who assists in an abortion.

A week ago, one Republican in the Arizona House joined 29 Democrats to bring the repeal measure to a vote, but the effort failed twice on 30-30 votes.

Democrats are hoping one more Republican will cross party lines on Wednesday so that the repeal bill can be brought up for a vote.

There appears to be enough support for repeal in Arizona Senate, but a final vote is unlikely May 1.

The law had been blocked since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide. After Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, then-Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, persuaded a state judge that the 1864 ban could go back into effect.

But the 1864 law was not enforced while the question made its way through the courts.

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