Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego speaks to reporters at the Arizona state capitol regarding the Supreme Court’s reinstatement of a 1864 law banning virtually all abortions (Picture: AP)
The highest court of the US state of Arizona has revived a ban on virtually all abortions from a 19th century law, which could have a widespread impact on women’s health care.
Arizona’s Supreme Court on Tuesday sided 4-2 with an anti-abortion obstetrician and a county prosecutor who pushed for the 1864 law to be upheld.
‘Physicians are now on notice that all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman’s life, are illegal,’ stated the court whose justices were all appointed by Republicans.
The four-person majority wrote: ‘Because the federal constitutional right to abortion that overrode § 13-3603 no longer exists, the statute is now enforceable.’
Arizona’s Supreme Court revived a law dating to 1864 that bans abortion in virtual all instances (Picture: Reuters)
It comes after the US Supreme Court in June 2022 overturned its landmark Roe v Wade decision that established a constitutional right to abortion nationwide. The ruling left abortion rights to be determined by the states.
The Arizona Supreme Court found that the state legislature did not create a right to abortion while banning the procedure past 15 weeks of pregnancy.
But the state’s high court has put the ruling on hold temporarily and sent it to a lower court for further arguments around the constitutionality of the Civil War-era law.
Abortion providers anticipate continuing to perform procedures into next month as lawyers seek to delay the implementation of the ruling.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs speaks to reporters at the state capitol in Phoenix on Tuesday (Picture: AP)
Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes called the state high court’s ruling 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 vowed not to prosecute a doctor performing or woman having an abortion under the ‘draconian law’.
President Joe Biden slammed the state court’s decision as ‘cruel’ and an ‘extreme agenda of Republican elected officials’.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled 4-2 in favor of upholding a Civil War-era law banning virtually all abortions (Picture: Reuters)
‘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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