Tucson, Arizona—

Former President Donald Trump on Friday urged Arizona lawmakers to quickly “correct” a state Supreme Court ruling that allowed prosecutors to enforce a near-total abortion ban, which he declared “went too far.”

Trump, who appointed three conservative judges to the U.S. Supreme Court during his presidency, has repeatedly taken pride in his role in overturning the nation’s constitutional abortion rights. However, after Arizona ruled that a book ban dating back to 1864 was constitutional, he sent a message that underscored his fight to eliminate books that have become powerful political weapons for Democrats.

His remarks came hours before Vice President Kamala Harris spoke about abortion rights in Tucson on Friday. President Joe Biden and his allies have accused Trump of drastically restricting abortion, an issue that has become a major liability for the former president in one of the few battleground states that could decide the November election.

Just days before Trump asked states to relax abortion laws, he said abortion rights should be left up to the states. He added at the time: “Whatever they decide, they have to abide by the laws of the land – and in this case, the laws of the country.”

On Friday, he expressed his firm views on the decisions the state government must make.

“The Governor and the Arizona Legislature must use heart, common sense and take immediate action to correct what has happened,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Remember, it is now up to the state and the people who represent it. of goodwill.”

He stopped short of calling for specific action, such as repealing or diluting the law. He did say that “ideal” abortion restrictions should include exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.

“Arizona Legislature, please act ASAP!” Trump wrote.

Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has called for repealing the abortion ban, and a handful of Republican lawmakers from battleground districts have backed the move. But the Republican majority in the state House of Representatives ended an attempt to repeal the bill on Monday amid chants of “Shame! Shame!” from Democrats.

The Legislature’s most vocal critic of repealing the law is one of the agency’s most loyal Trump supporters.

Under pressure for his role in eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, Trump on Monday tried to chart a middle course, releasing a video in which he proudly paved the way for the court’s ruling and said the matter should be referred to It’s up to the states. He refused to support a nationwide ban.

But a second day of rulings from the Arizona Supreme Court showed what happens when the issue is left to the states. The Arizona ruling paves the way for enforcement of a law first passed in 1864 that allows for the imprisonment of abortion providers at any stage of pregnancy unless the mother’s life is in danger. It does not include exceptions for pregnancy resulting from rape or incest.

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

Arizona voters backed Biden by fewer than 11,000 votes in 2020, the second time in seven decades that the state voted Democratic, and Trump and Biden again identified the state as a key battleground this year.

Sixty-one percent of Arizona voters heading into the 2022 midterm elections say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, according to a broad poll of voters conducted by Associated Press VoteCast. Only 6% said it should be illegal in all circumstances.

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

In that election, about 6 in 10 Arizona voters said they supported a law guaranteeing legal abortion nationwide.