Restrictive abortion bans have changed the experience of accessing reproductive care in Texas, Oklahoma, and Florida over the past few years. The latest state to embrace anti-abortion legislation is now Arizona, where the state Supreme Court ruled this week that a more than 100-year-old abortion law is, in fact, still enforceable. Keep reading to find everything you need to know about the developing legal situation in Arizona.
What is the abortion ban that the Arizona Supreme Court has resurrected?
The law that the Arizona Supreme Court decided was enforceable on Tuesday was first written in 1864 (some 50 years before Arizona even became a US state) and outlaws abortion from the moment of conception except when necessary to save the pregnant person’s life. The Supreme Court’s ruling would make performing an abortion or helping a woman obtain one punishable by two to five years in prison in many cases.
What did abortion access look like in Arizona before that?
Prior to this ruling, abortion in Arizona was legal up to roughly the 15-week mark of pregnancy. However, in as early as 2017 (five years before the fall of Roe v. Wade), the Guttmacher Institute noted that there were only 11 facilities providing abortion in Arizona and 80% of Arizona counties had no clinics that provided abortions.
What’s the next move for those fighting to preserve abortion access in Arizona?
If abortion-rights groups like the ACLU of Arizona and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona succeed in getting the issue on the ballot this November, Arizona voters will be able to decide whether to let the 1864 law stand. More than 500,000 Arizonans have already signed a petition to put an abortion-rights measure on this year’s ballot, which would enshrine the right to abortion in Arizona’s constitution and allow abortion up until the point of fetal viability (which is generally thought to be around 24 weeks). The Arizona Supreme Court justices wrote in their ruling that they would stay enforcement of the new law for 14 days, with Planned Parenthood Arizona saying it plans to continue providing abortions throughout that time.
How have Arizona politicians responded?
Democratic governor Katie Hobbs called Tuesday “a dark day in Arizona,” with Arizona senator Eva Burch (who announced last month on the Senate floor that she would seek an abortion due to a nonviable pregnancy) promising: “The fight for reproductive rights is not over in Arizona. This moment must not slow us down.”
Has the White House weighed in?
“Millions of Arizonans will soon live under an even more extreme and dangerous abortion ban, which fails to protect women even when their health is at risk or in tragic cases of rape or incest,” President Joe Biden said in a statement on Tuesday. He added, “This ruling is a result of the extreme agenda of Republican elected officials who are committed to ripping away women’s freedom.” Vice President Kamala Harris is planning to travel to Arizona on Friday.
