The highest court in the US state of Arizona has restored a prohibition on almost all abortions from a law dating back to the 19th century, which could have a widespread impact on women’s health care.
Arizona’s Supreme Court ruled 4-2 in support of an anti-abortion obstetrician and a county prosecutor who advocated for the 1864 law to be upheld.
‘Doctors are now aware that all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman’s life, are illegal,’ announced the court whose justices were all appointed by Republicans.
The majority of four stated: ‘Because the federal constitutional right to abortion that overrode § 13-3603 no longer exists, the statute is now enforceable.’
This comes after the US Supreme Court in June 2022 reversed its landmark Roe v Wade decision that established a constitutional right to abortion nationwide. This decision left abortion rights to be determined by the states.
The Arizona Supreme Court found that the state legislature did not establish a right to abortion while prohibiting the procedure past 15 weeks of pregnancy.
But the state’s high court has temporarily halted the ruling and sent it to a lower court for further discussions about the constitutionality of the Civil War-era law.
Providers of abortion expect to continue performing procedures into the next month as lawyers work to delay the enforcement of the ruling.
Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes referred to the state high court’s ruling as an ‘unconscionable and an affront to freedom’.
‘Today’s decision to reimpose a law from a time when Arizona wasn’t a state, the Civil War was raging, and women couldn’t even vote, will go down in history as a stain on our state,’ she stated.
Mayes promised not to prosecute a doctor performing or woman having an abortion under the ‘draconian law’.
President Joe Biden criticized the state court’s decision as ‘cruel’ and an ‘extreme agenda of Republican elected officials’.
‘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,’ he stated.
The Arizona Supreme Court’s ruling came a day after former President Donald Trump said that abortion access should be determined by the states. However, he stopped short of proposing a nationwide ban, as he seeks the support of swing state voters ahead of the November election.
Beside Arizona, 14 other states have banned almost all abortions since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade.
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