The Arizona gubernatorial race has been equally concerning and interesting to me. I followed the Republican primary, which culminated in Kari Lake beating Karrin Taylor Robson in a narrow race, and now spend a lot of time reading about developments in the general election race for governor. Kari Lake and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs are habitually exchanging jabs on Twitter. Recently, Hobbs declined to partake in a televised debate after working to have the debate structure changed to two 30-minute, moderated interviews which was ultimately denied by the Citizen Clean Elections Commission. Lake has pounced on this as a talking point in her campaign.
Yesterday, however, Hobbs posted a tweet that went viral. It said that, after she had a miscarriage, she needed life-saving medical treatment “that’s commonly used for abortions” that her opponent, Lake, “wants to criminalize.”
This tweet was met with a stinging response from her Republican opponent, along with right-wing candidates for public office in Arizona, like Blake Masters, chiming in. Masters quote tweeted Hobbs’ tweet, calling her assertion that Lake wanted to criminalize miscarriage-related healthcare “a vile lie.” He added that “Kari fully supports that kind of medical care. All Republicans do.” I wanted to look at this claim for this assignment because the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June makes abortion an extremely critical matter in this gubernatorial race. I’m also interested in exploring this claim because it has been a tense political topic for decades, and these two campaigns have often traded misleading jabs and attacks on each others’ political and social stances.
The first step I took to addressing whether Kari Lake wants to criminalize abortion was head to both Hobbs’ and Lake’s respective campaign sites. I wanted to read what they had published regarding their stances on abortion. Lake’s site notes that she’s avidly pro-life, but there is no direct mention of criminalizing abortion. This section of her site also notes she will work to make “all common forms of birth control available over-the-counter” and provide “assistance to those who are financially unable to pay for their own birth control.”
Hobb’s site has a more extensive section devoted to her views on reproductive healthcare. If Hobb’s is elected governor, she says she’ll repeal a 1901 Arizona law that effectively bans and criminalizes all abortions, use her veto power to bar any further restrictions on reproductive rights, and enact legal protections for women and their doctors. I don’t see any mention of Lake on here, which is no surprise considering it’s Hobbs’ campaign site.
Taking advice from the CTRL + F series, I went to external sources for more information to check this claim. An AZCentral opinion piece noted that Lake had alluded to returning to the existing 1901 law — which effectively criminalizes all abortions except when the woman’s life is at risk — but it didn’t provide clarity or information from the horse’s mouth. A KJZZ article related to Hobbs’ refusal to debate Lake quoted a political consultant, who said Lake was a proponent of criminalizing abortion. An article from Northeast Valley News touched on a tweet posted by Lake in response to Roe v. Wade being overturned.
Eventually, through a piece from Copper Courier, I found a link to an Axios piece covering the bizarre Arizona Republican primary debate for governor from June that said “both Lake and Taylor Robson said they would support and enforce Arizona's pre-Roe ban on abortion, which would prohibit the procedure in nearly all cases and would criminalize doctors who perform it.” Finally, I felt like I had found information that supported Hobbs’ original claim that Lake wants to criminalize abortion. The piece was written by Jessica Boehm, a former Arizona Republic reporter who I believe is a truthful and diligent journalist.
Because of the information I found from the Republican primary debate, and the fact that the write-up was penned by a journalist I recognize, I believe that Hobbs’ assertion was accurate. This was a good exercise in going to the root of a claim and determining whether it was accurate. Sometimes in political campaigns, I think facts can be extrapolated upon and societal fears can be exploited to gain a lead, so it’s crucial to investigate any information coming from a political hopeful that you’re unsure of.
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