Trump says Arizona abortion ruling went too far

Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the Arizona Supreme Court went too far in ruling the state's 160-year-old near-total abortion ban can be enforced.

Trump made the comment while speaking to reporters after landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport ahead of a campaign fundraiser.

"Yeah, they did," Trump said about the court's judges when asked if they went too far. "That'll be straightened out, and as you know it's all about states' rights."

The former president predicted that Arizona's governor and others "are going to bring it back into reason."

While he said the court overstepped, Trump also reiterated his position that the issue of abortion should be left up to states.

"It's the will of the people," he said, adding that he would not sign a national abortion ban as president.

Under the law from 1864, anyone who performs the procedure or helps a woman access that care could face felony charges and up to two to five years in prison. The law includes an exception to save the woman’s life.

President Joe Biden's campaign said in response to Trump's remarks that the former president "owns the suffering and chaos happening right now, including in Arizona, because he proudly overturned Roe."

"Trump lies constantly — about everything — but has one track record: banning abortion every chance he gets," Biden campaign communication director Michael Tyler said in a statement.

"The guy who wants to be a dictator on day one will use every tool at his disposal to ban abortion nationwide, with or without Congress, and running away from reporters to his private jet like a coward doesn’t change that reality," Tyler said.

During a stop at Chick-fil-A after his initial comments on the ruling, Trump was asked if doctors should be punished for performing abortions.

"I’ll let that be to the states," he said. "You know everything we’re doing now is states and states' rights and what we wanted to do is get it back to the states because for 53 years it’s been a fight and now the states are handling it and some have handled it very well and the others will end up handling it very well."

Trump's remarks come after he said Monday that abortion laws and policies should be controlled by individual states. He did not take a position, however, on the possibility of a national abortion ban that has been pushed by conservatives in Congress, including many of his allies. 

“My view is, now that we have abortion where everybody wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both, and whatever they decide must be the law of the land,” Trump said in a more than four-minute-long video posted on his Truth Social account. 

His position has drawn blowback from some Republicans, who have wanted Trump to promote the possibility of a national ban. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., for example, criticized Trump in a statement. “Dobbs does not require that conclusion legally and the pro-life movement has always been about the wellbeing of the unborn child — not geography,” he said. 

Some Arizona Republicans have distanced themselves from the ruling, including GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake who had previously called the statute “a great law.”

Trump’s comments at the airport Wednesday came after he greeted a small crowd of supporters. While speaking to cameras, Trump blasted President Joe Biden and his leadership, saying that he has “abandoned Israel” and repeated a line he recently made.

“Any Jewish person that votes for a Democrat or votes for Biden should have their head examined,” he said.