This is interesting. Who would have thought a Civil War law would be reinstated?
A nearly two-year legal battle over abortion in Arizona ended on April 9 with the state Supreme Court’s ruling that a pre-statehood ban on most abortions is legally enforceable in the state.
The 1864 law bans all abortions in Arizona, save those performed to save the life of the mother.
The 4–2 ruling reverses a lower court’s opinion that a 15-week abortion limit passed in 2022 supersedes the older law’s abortion restrictions. The Arizona Court of Appeals had held that the two laws could be “harmonized,” allowing doctors to perform abortions up to 15 weeks, but also permitting the prosecution of non-physicians who perform abortions in the state. (Epoch Times)
However, the state Supreme Court has ruled that Arizona should follow the old law. It makes no exceptions for rape or incest and makes performing an abortion punishable by two to five years in prison.
In the ruling, justices wrote that they will stay enforcement for 14 days, possibly longer, allowing abortions to continue during that time. Planned Parenthood Arizona, the state’s largest abortion provider, says it plans to continue providing abortions as long as allowed. A measure is already afoot to put a vote on 2024 ballots that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.