"I have actually just started to say Republicans should embrace this law and go down with the ship," he said. "Republicans should stand their moral ground. They have wanted to overturn Roe vs. Wade for generations. They finally have, and in Arizona, abortions are so limited, they literally only have one exception — the life of the mother. They should celebrate. That is horrendous campaign advice, but at least stick to your principles."

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled recently that the 1864 law, which banned all abortions except to save the life of the woman and carried a two- to five-year prison sentence for abortion providers, could be enforced.

The Arizona House voted to repeal the law Wednesday and the state's Senate is expected to vote to repeal it next week.

But even if repealed, the 1864 law would still go into effect for a period of time because repeals do not take effect until 90 days after the end of the legislative session. Then the state would revert to its prior restrictions on abortions after 15 weeks except for medical emergencies. (There is no exception for rape or incest.)

The uncertainty over legal restrictions on abortion and elsewhere is prompting women to seek out states where the procedure is still available.

Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, one of the nation's largest abortion providers, has already seen women from Arizona and elsewhere seeking medical treatment here because they miscarried and couldn't receive care in their home states.

"The impact of abortion bans extends far beyond what many people think of when they hear the word abortion," said Sue Dunlap, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles.

"We have seen multiple patients travel from out of state for miscarriage care," Dunlap said. "In at least one example, a patient flew to Los Angeles because she was unsure of the status of her pregnancy and felt unable to access the care she needed in her local community.

"Ultimately, patients are traveling hundreds of miles for care that theoretically should be permissible in their home state but that, in practice, becomes impossible to access due to fear and legal confusion."

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