Kari Lake’s evolving opinion on abortion rights is highlighted by changes on her campaign website, according to archived versions of Lake’s web page independently reviewed by Newsweek.
Lake’s campaign site has revised her abortion position twice in the last two years. As it stands, the headline of “pro-life” has been changed to “abortion.”
During her unsuccessful 2022 run for Arizona governor, Lake’s “issues” web page contained a simple headline and one-sentence explanation under her “Pro-Life” stance.
“I am pro-life. Always have been and always will be,” it stated.
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However, by December 2022, Lake’s abortion statement expanded to five paragraphs. The updated version was still titled “pro-life,” but she added details, such as, if elected governor, she wanted to expand aid for pregnant women.
Lake, the front-runner in the Arizona Republican Senate primary, also said Arizona law needed to be reformed to hold fathers more accountable for support of women they have impregnated. In addition, she said the state should help people have access to “all common forms of birth control available over the counter.”
Lake’s campaign website shifted again on the topic in fall 2023, around the same time that she announced her run for Kyrsten Sinema‘s seat on the Senate. She removed “pro-life” completely as the headline on her issues page, replacing it with “abortion.”
She also deleted a mention that “life begins at conception.” In her latest website update, the former television anchor also says she “does not support a federal ban on abortion.”
Last week, the Arizona state House passed a repeal of an archaic law banning abortion, with a small number of Republicans joining Democrats on the third attempt to overturn the ban.
Arizona’s Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that the near-total abortion ban enacted in 1864 was still enforceable. The ruling immediately sparked outrage from Democrats who support abortion rights and concerns from some Republicans that the restrictive law could be a liability in the November election.
Despite former President Donald Trump this month calling on Arizona lawmakers to get the ban “straightened out,” Republicans blocked the two previous efforts to repeal it.
Earlier this month, a five-minute, 32-second video was added above the “abortion” topic on Lake’s website, in which she began by siding with the former president’s recently announced “state’s rights” stance on the issue.
At the start of the video, Lake states: “This total ban on abortion that the Arizona Supreme Court just ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are. The issue is less about banning abortion and more about saving babies. I agree with President Trump this is such a personal and private issue. I chose life but I’m not every woman. I want to make sure that every woman that finds herself pregnant has more choices so that she can make that choice that I made.”
When asked about revising her abortion stance during an April 17 campaign event, Lake said she “never shifted” in terms of her opposition to a federal abortion ban and also downplayed Arizona’s upheld ban by suggesting that anyone pregnant could travel to another state.
“Everyone’s fighting about a law that’s not even going to be enforced here in Arizona,” Lake said. “Even if we have a restrictive law here, you can go three hours that way, three hours that way, and you’re going to be able to have an abortion.”
Lake’s leading Democrat opponent for the November election, Representative Ruben Gallego, has criticized her, framing the coming vote as a referendum on the issue.
“She wanted this to happen,” Gallego said. “They all did. Do not let them lie to you.”
Lake still faces a challenge from Mark Lamb, Pinal County sheriff, when state Republicans vote in the primary on July 30.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.