Democrats are betting that abortion-related ballot measures will help President Biden fend off former President Donald Trump in key battleground states this fall.
That gamble is starting to look like a long shot in Arizona where a clear majority of people support passing a constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights into law, and also prefer Mr. Trump over Mr. Biden in the race for the White House.
The CBS News/YouGov survey found that 65% of Arizona adults would support a pro-abortion amendment. It also showed Mr. Trump has a 52% to 47% lead over Mr. Biden in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup.
At the same time, Democrat Ruben Gallego, a pro-choice advocate, is leading Republican Kari Lake, who has struggled with the abortion issue, 49% to 36% in the race to replace Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, the Democrat-turned-independent who is not seeking re-election.
Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Trump in Arizona by just over 10,000 votes on his way to winning the 2020 election.
Democrats hope Mr. Biden can pull off a repeat in Arizona this fall.
The Biden campaign is laser-focused on the issue of abortion, viewing it as a way for 81-year-old Democrat to overcome lousy approval numbers in states such as Arizona.
Democrats have gotten an electoral boost from the Supreme Court’s 2022 overturning of Roe V. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that provided a constitutional right to abortion.
The decision kicked the issue back to the states, including several with stricter abortion limits on the books.
The issue recently took center stage in Arizona after the state Supreme Court found that officials may now enforce an 1864 law criminalizing all abortions except when a woman’s life is at stake.
Arizona lawmakers repealed the law earlier this month after two Republican state senators broke with their party in the GOP-controlled Senate.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, signed the bill into law, delivering another win for pro-abortion advocates and another blow against strict anti-abortion conservatives, and pro-life advocates.
The fight, however, is not yet over.
Groups pushing to put abortion rights in the state constitution say they have gathered enough signatures to put the abortion amendment on the state ballot.
For his part, Mr. Trump has said he is proud to have nominated the conservative justices that helped overturn Roe, and states are now deciding the appropriate limits on the procedure.
The CBS News/ YouGov poll of 1,510 adults in Arizona was conducted between May 10 and May 16. It has a 3.3% margin of error.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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