Biden campaign takes Rick Scott out of context on Arizona abortion ruling: ‘They’re lying.’

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Biden-Harris campaign took Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott out of context when he made remarks in response to the Arizona Supreme Court’s upholding of a near-total abortion ban on Tuesday.

The law, created in 1864, only includes an exception to save the woman’s life. It enacts felony punishments for performing or helping a woman obtain an abortion.

The “Biden-Harris HQ” account posted a video of Scott on Fox Business, falsely paraphrasing Scott into saying the Arizona abortion ban is “exactly what ought to be happening.”

“They’re lying,” Scott responded.

In reality, Scott said what “ought to be happening” is states going through their own legislative processes to determine the solution that best aligns with its population – he did not voice support for Arizona’s total abortion ban.

“This is what is gonna happen as a result of the overturning of Roe v. Wade – and as you know, I’m pro life – is that we are gonna decide this at the state level,” Scott said. “State by state [will] figure this out. I’m sure Arizona will figure this out.”

“In Florida, we’ve got a constitutional amendment [initiative] that’s gonna help us figure out where we are on [it],” he said. “So, this is exactly what ought to be happening – ought to be going through a legislative process to come up with a way to make sure we have reasonable limitations, but we protect babies.”

The campaign has taken fire in recent days for its misleading posts on abortion.

After former President Donald Trump said abortion is a states’ rights issue, the Biden-Harris campaign falsely posted that Trump’s press secretary indicated the former president “supports” the Arizona abortion ban.

The account also falsely claimed Trump supports restrictions on in vitro fertilization, or IVF, and supports “forc[ing] rape victims to give birth” along with “extreme abortion bans.” In fact, Trump expressly voiced support for protecting IVF this week.

Scott and Trump have endorsed each other in their respective campaigns, and both are set to be on the same Florida ballot together this November that will also include a ballot initiative that could constitutionally protect abortion in the Sunshine State before the point of “viability.”

On top of the amendment question making the ballot, the Supreme Court of Florida also upheld the state’s 15 week abortion ban – a decision that will now allow the six week ban to take effect soon.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed both of those laws, predicted that the abortion amendment will fail to reach the necessary 60% threshold to pass.

“Once voters figure out how radical both of those are, they’re going to fail,” he said. “They’re very, very extreme.”