The Democrat running for governor in Arizona next month said that she doesn't support any limitations on abortion after Republicans proposed a nationwide ban after 15 weeks.
Arizona is one of the 13 with trigger laws, which effectively banned abortion in June when the Supreme Court overturned the landmark decision in Roe v. Wade.
An 1864 Arizona law is behind upheld and went into effect on September 24 that bans all abortions except for in the case where the mother's health and life is put at risk by carrying the pregnancy to term.
'I do not support the 15 week ban,' Arizona's Secretary of State Katie Hobbs told CBS News Face the Nation host Major Garret on Sunday morning.
'I support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving politicians entirely out of it,' she said.
Hobbs is running against Republican Kari Lake for Arizona GOP Governor Doug Ducey's seat after serving his two consecutive four-year terms.
Pro-abortion groups in Arizona sought an injunctions to stop Arizona's old abortion law from being reinstated with the end of federal-level protections awarded by the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973.
Arizona's Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich requested to lift the injunction, and Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson heard arguments on the case before deciding that the law would remain outlawing abortion.
Lake has described Hobbs as 'extreme' when it comes to abortion. Hobbs appeared to confirm that by suggesting she is open to abortions at any time during a woman's pregnancy – even up to the moment of birth.
'You and I both know that late-term abortion is extremely rare,' Hobbs dismissed. 'And if it's being talked about, it's because something has gone incredibly wrong in a pregnancy. A doctor's not going to perform an abortion late in a pregnancy just because somebody decided they want one. That is ridiculous.'
'What would the Hobbs administration's week limit be for abortion access? If it's not 15-weeks? What is it?' Garrett pressed.
'Look, abortion is a very personal decision that belongs between a woman and her doctor,' she deflected. 'The government and politicians don't belong in that decision, we need to let doctors perform the care that they are trained and take an oath to- to perform.'
'So if an Arizona voter were to conclude from your previous answer, that you do not favor any specific week limit on abortion, would they be correct?' he further asked when Hobbs didn't directly answer the question.
'I support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving politicians entirely out of it.'
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced a bill last week that would prevent women nationwide from seeking abortions after 15 weeks into their pregnancy.
Democrats claim this is a walk back by Republicans who claimed that the Roe overturn sends the issues back to the states, where individual jurisdictions can dictate their abortion laws.
Arizona is the one state with a GOP governor currently that is now a 'toss up' election, according to the Cook Political Report, which shows neither Hobbs nor Lake tipping the scales.
Hobbs pulled ahead of Lake in much of the early polling by around 5 percentage points, but in recent months the margins have slimmed substantially.
The most recent average in polling from FiveThirtyEight shows Lake trailing by just .4 percent and just .1 percent last week.
