Trump pushes Arizona lawmakers to 'remedy' state abortion ruling that he says 'went too far'

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Former President Donald Trump urged Arizona lawmakers on Friday to swiftly “remedy” the state Supreme Court ruling allowing prosecutors to enforce a near—total abortion ban that he declared anew “went too far.”

Trump has repeatedly expressed pride in his role in overturning the national constitutional right to an abortion by appointing three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court during his one term as president. However, his messaging in the aftermath of the Arizona ruling that a ban on the books since 1864 is constitutional illustrates his struggle to neutralize what has become a potent political weapon for Democrats.

His comments Friday came hours before Vice President Kamala Harris was to speak about abortion rights in Tucson. President Joe Biden and his allies blame Trump for sharply curtailing abortion access, and the issue has become a major liability for the former president in one of the handful of swing states that could decide the November election.

Trump's demand for the state to ease its abortion law came just days after he said abortion rights should be left to the states to decide. At the time he added: “and whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.”

On Friday, he struck a firm note on what the state must decide.

“The Governor and the Arizona Legislature must use HEART, COMMON SENSE, and ACT IMMEDIATELY, to remedy what has happened," Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media platform. “Remember, it is now up to the States and the Good Will of those that represent THE PEOPLE.”

He did not call for a specific course of action, such as repealing or watering down the law. He did say that “ideally” abortion restrictions should include exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

“Arizona Legislature, please act as fast as possible!” Trump wrote.

Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has called for the repeal of the abortion ban, and a handful of Republican legislators from battleground districts have supported that move. But the Republican majority in the state House shut down an attempted repeal on Monday amid shouts from Democrats of “Shame! Shame!”

The Legislature's most vocal critics of repealing the law are among the body's most devoted Trump supporters.

Under pressure over his role in eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, Trump tried to chart a middle course on Monday, releasing a video in which he said he proudly paved the way for the court's decision and that the matter should be left to states. He declined to endorse a national ban.

But the Arizona Supreme Court ruling the next day showed what can happen when the issue is left to states. The Arizona ruling paves the way for enforcement of a law first passed in 1864, which allows for the imprisonment of abortion providers at any stage of pregnancy unless the mother's life is at risk. It does not include exceptions for pregnancies that result from rape or incest.

“Nothing he says can undo the chaos and cruelty his actions have inflicted on women across America,” Sarafina Chitika, a Biden campaign spokesperson, said Friday in response to Trump's latest comments.

Arizona voters backed Biden in 2020 by fewer than 11,000 votes, just the second time in seven decades that the state voted for a Democrat, and both Trump and Biden see the state as a crucial battleground again this year.

According to AP VoteCast, a broad survey of the electorate, 61% of Arizona voters in the 2022 midterm elections said abortion should be legal in most or all cases. Just 6% said it should be illegal in all cases.

Two-thirds of midterm voters in Arizona said the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade was an important factor for their vote in that election.

About 6 in 10 Arizona voters in that election said they would favor a law guaranteeing access to legal abortion nationwide.

Arizona State Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamliton, D, speaks on floor at the Capitol, Wednesday, April 10, 2024, in Phoenix. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state can enforce its long-dormant law criminalizing all abortions except when a mother's life is at stake. (AP Photo/Matt York)

FILE - Thousands of protesters march around the Arizona Capitol in protest after the Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision Friday, June 24, 2022, in Phoenix. A stunning abortion ruling this week in April 2024, has supercharged Arizona’s role in the looming fall election. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, File)

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks at a Get Out The Vote rally in Conway, S.C., Feb. 10, 2024. Trump still says he's proud that the Supreme Court justices he nominated overturned Roe v. Wade. Yet he avoided questions about whether he would support a national abortion ban should he return to the White House. Trump tried to put the issue to rest on Monday, April 8, in a video statement where Trump did not call for a national abortion ban, disappointing religious conservatives. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Trump pushes Arizona lawmakers to "remedy" state abortion ruling that he says "went too far"

Trump pushes Arizona lawmakers to "remedy" state abortion ruling that he says "went too far"

ROME (AP) — A European court on Thursday upheld Italy’s right to seize a prized Greek statue from the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, ruling that Italy was right to try to reclaim an important part of its cultural heritage and rejecting the museum's appeal.

The European Court of Human Rights, or ECHR, determined that Italy’s years-long efforts to recover the “Victorious Youth” statue from the Malibu-based Getty were not disproportionate.

The Getty had appealed a 2018 Italian high court ruling that had confirmed a confiscation order, claiming that its rights to the statue had been violated by Italy's campaign to get it back.

“Victorious Youth,” a life-sized bronze dating from 300 B.C. to 100 B.C., is one of the highlights of the Getty collection. Though the artist is unknown, some scholars believe it was made by Lysippos, Alexander the Great’s personal sculptor.

An Italian court in Pesaro had ordered it seized and returned in 2010, at the height of Italy’s campaign to recover antiquities looted from its territory and sold to museums and private collectors around the globe.

The Getty has long defended its right to the statue, saying Italy had no legal claim to it.

Among other things, the Getty had argued that the statue is of Greek origin, was found in international waters and was never part of Italy’s cultural heritage. It has cited a 1968 Court of Cassation ruling that found no evidence that the statue belonged to Italy.

The bronze, which was pulled from the sea in 1964 by Italian fishermen, was purchased by the Getty in 1977 for $4 million and has been on display at the Getty since.

Thursday's ruling by the Strasbourg, France-based ECHR was a chamber judgment. Both sides now have three months to ask that the case be heard by the court's Grand Chamber for a final ruling.

There was no immediate comment from the Getty, and its lawyers referred comment to the museum. The Italian culture ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Getty had appealed to the ECHR by arguing, among other things, that Italy's 2010 confiscation order constituted a violation of its right to enjoy its possessions and that it would be deprived of that right if U.S. authorities carried out the seizure.

The ECHR however, ruled in favor of Italy and strongly reaffirmed Italy's right to pursue the protection of its cultural heritage, especially from unlawful exportation.

"The court further held that owing, in particular, to the Getty Trust’s negligence or bad faith in purchasing the statue despite being aware of the claims of the Italian state and their efforts to recover it, the confiscation order had been proportionate to the aim of ensuring the return of an object that was part of Italy’s cultural heritage," said the summary of the ruling.

The statue, nicknamed the “Getty Bronze,” is a signature piece for the museum. Standing about 5 feet (1.52 meters) tall, the statue of the young athlete raising his right hand to an olive wreath crown around his head is one of the few life-sized Greek bronzes to have survived.

The bronze is believed to have sunk with the ship that was carrying it to Italy after the Romans conquered Greece. After being found in the nets of Italian fishermen trawling in international waters in 1964, it allegedly was buried in an Italian cabbage patch and hidden in a priest’s bathtub before it was taken out of Italy.

The Italian government says it was brought into Italy and then exported illegally, with the illegal exportation the basis of its confiscation order.

Italy has successfully won back thousands of artifacts from museums, collections and private owners around the world that it says were looted or stolen from the country illegally, and recently opened a museum to house them until they can be returned to the regions from where they were looted.

The most important work to date that Italy has successfully brought back is the Euphronios Krater, one of the finest ancient Greek vases in existence. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which purchased it for $1 million in 1972 from an art dealer later accused of acquiring looted artifacts, returned it to Italy in 2008.

In 2010, the same year that Italy ordered the “Victorious Youth” statue confiscated from the Getty, a criminal trial ended in Rome against the Getty's former curator of antiquities, Marion True. After years of trial, the Rome court ruled that the statute of limitations had expired on charges that True received stolen artifacts. She has denied wrongdoing.

In 2007, the Getty, without admitting any wrongdoing, agreed to return 40 ancient treasures in exchange for the long-term loans of other artifacts. Similar deals have been reached with other museums.

Under the 2007 deal, the two sides agreed to postpone further discussion of “Victorious Youth” until the court case was decided.

FILE - Reporter Sookee Chung takes a photo of a sculpture titled "Statue of a Victorious Youth, 300-100 B.C." at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, on July 27, 2015. A European court upheld Italy’s right to seize a prized Greek statue from the J. Paul Getty Museum in California, rejecting the museum’s appeal on Thursday and ruling Italy was right to try to reclaim an important part of its cultural heritage. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)