Vice-president will stage campaign event in state after its supreme court ruled 1864 ban could go into effect

Ahead of her campaign trip to Tuscon, Arizona, on Friday, where she is expected to blame Donald Trump for the country’s abortion rights crisis, Kamala Harris tweeted:

Women across our country are suffering at the hands of extremists who say they’re motivated by the well-being of women and children but ignore the crisis of maternal mortality.

The House Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, will meet with Trump in Mar-a-Lago, where they plan to deliver remarks on “election integrity”, NBC reports .

The House is set to vote on the reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the controversial legislation that failed two days ago in the Republican-led chamber.

Biden is set to deliver a virtual keynote address at Rev Al Sharpton’s annual racial justice conference in New York.

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Far-right US Senate candidate joins Republicans who have decried state supreme court ruling but who blocked appeal effort

Kari Lake, the far-right US Senate candidate and Donald Trump ally, denounced Arizona’s abortion ban on Thursday, arguing that the strict legislation she previously praised does not have the support of the state’s residents.

“This total ban on abortion the Arizona supreme court just ruled on is out of line with where the people of this state are,” she said in a video on Thursday. “I agree with President Trump – this is such a personal and private issue.”

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Republicans haven’t ‘moderated’ their extreme stance on abortion, but much of the media is eager to give that impression

Sometimes, in 2024 America, you have to pinch yourself to make sure you’re not in a long-running dystopian nightmare. Then again, maybe we all are. And no amount of pinching will help.

Two scenes from this week stand out.

Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture

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Democrats stymied after state supreme court rules that 1864 law with no exceptions for rape or incest can go into effect

Arizona’s state Republican leadership halted an effort by Democrats on Wednesday to repeal an 1864 law banning almost all abortions, which the state supreme court this week ruled could go into effect.

The move came after Republican lawmakers in the state had denounced the court’s decision, including some who previously expressed support for the law. Donald Trump and other high-profile Republicans, such as the Senate candidate Kari Lake, had also declared their opposition to the ruling with Lake urging lawmakers to “come up with an immediate commonsense solution that Arizonans can support”.

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Ex-president who boasts about Roe’s fall say matter is ‘about states’ rights’ but concedes revived 160-year-old ban goes too far

Insisting abortion rights should be left to state governments, Donald Trump nonetheless said the rightwing Arizona supreme court went too far when it ruled on Tuesday that a 160-year-old near-total ban could be enforced.

“Yeah, they did [go too far],” Trump said on Wednesday to reporters at an airport in Atlanta, Georgia. “That’ll be straightened out, and as you know it’s all about states’ rights.”

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Kari Lake among GOP members condemning state supreme court ruling as party flails over abortion politics in election year

• Arizona Republicans denounce revived 1864 abortion ban in sudden reversal

Arizona’s Democratic attorney general, Kris Mayes, vowed not to prosecute any doctors or women under the 1864 ban.

Speaking in a news conference after the court’s decision was published, Mayes said:

No woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law … as long as I am attorney general. Not by me, nor by any county attorney serving in our state. Not on my watch.

Today’s decision to reimpose a law from a time when Arizona wasn’t a state, the Civil War was raging, and women couldn’t even vote will go down in history as a stain on our state.

I’ve personally experienced the anguish of losing a pregnancy and I know it’s outrageous to have the government tell you that the best decision for your health or future could now be considered a crime. I will not stop fighting until we have fully secured the right to reproductive healthcare in our state.

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As the party struggles to talk about abortion, response marks fastest and strongest rebuke of bans since the fall of Roe

Hours after Arizona’s supreme court declared on Tuesday that a 160-year-old abortion ban is now enforceable , Republicans in the state took a surprising stance for a party that has historically championed abortion restrictions – they denounced the decision.

“This decision cannot stand,” said Matt Gress, a Republican state representative. “I categorically reject rolling back the clock to a time when slavery was still legal and we could lock up women and doctors because of an abortion.”

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Sedona, Arizona, lacks affordable housing, but a program for priced-out local workers to sleep safely has drawn opposition

Jodi Jackson moved to Sedona, Arizona, last year for a slower pace of life. The 52-year-old has found the affluent town – known for its red rocks and appeal to the new age crowd – to be welcoming.

Working in a local laundromat, she comes into contact with a wide range of customers, from those cleaning linens for short-term rentals to those living in their cars.

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Companies accused of facilitating gun trafficking and and of being responsible for bloodshed that their guns contribute to in Mexico

A trial court in Arizona has ruled that the Mexican government may proceed in its trailblazing lawsuit against five US gun dealers, who stand accused of facilitating gun trafficking across the border into Mexico .

Mexico argues that the companies’ marketing campaigns and distribution practices mean that they are legally responsible for the bloodshed that their guns contribute to.

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