Arizona Supreme Court Revives 160-Year-Old Law, Bans Most Abortion Except to Save a Woman’s Life
The Arizona Supreme Court has reinstated a pre-statehood abortion law from 1864, effectively outlawing the procedure except in instances where it is necessary to save the life of the mother.
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The Arizona Supreme Court has reinstated a pre-statehood abortion law from 1864, effectively outlawing the procedure except in instances where it is necessary to save the life of the mother.
It can be recalled that Katie Hobbs signed a new Executive Order Friday that will delegate abortion-related prosecution to Attorney General Kris Mayes, who previously vowed not to enforce any current Arizona abortion laws if she is elected.
It will also restrict state agencies from assisting in other state investigations, ban extraditions of doctors wanted in other states, and establish a council to expand access to abortion.
The Gateway Pundit reported in September 2022 that a judge ruled that Arizona could enforce its ban on abortion following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roe v. Wade. This law made abortion legal if the mother’s life was at risk.
Doctors who perform abortions on a healthy woman would be “punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two years nor more than five years” under the pre-Roe law. However, The Arizona Court of Appeals later overturned this ruling and ruled that Arizona could impose a more recent law banning abortion after 15 weeks.
Katie Hobbs and Kris Mayes are pro-abortion, pro-infanticide radicals.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Hobbs vetoed Senator Janae Shamp’s SB1600, which would require doctors to care for an infant that is born alive and entitle them to be treated as a legal person under Arizona law.
As a legislator, Hobbs voted against similar legislation requiring doctors to maintain a baby’s life if they survive an abortion. Further, she voted against abortion limitations every chance she was given as a State Legislator.
Katie Hobbs and Kris Mayes are pro-abortion, pro-infanticide radicals.
As The Gateway Pundit reported, Hobbs vetoed Senator Janae Shamp’s SB1600, which would require doctors to care for an infant that is born alive and entitle them to be treated as a legal person under Arizona law.
As a legislator, Hobbs voted against similar legislation requiring doctors to maintain a baby’s life if they survive an abortion. Further, she voted against abortion limitations every chance she was given as a State Legislator.
The appeal’s court decision from December 2022, which had previously protected doctors from being prosecuted under the pre-statehood abortion ban, was overturned by the state’s highest court. The historic 1864 statute will become active once again 14 days following the ruling.
In a 4-2 split decision, Justice John R. Lopez IV clarified that the Arizona law permitting abortions up to the 15th week of pregnancy was contingent on the federal constitutional right to abortion.
This right was abolished by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization two years prior. Without this federal right, the 1864 law revives and stands as the governing statute.
Justice Lopez indicated that the 15-week law does not independently authorize abortions, and because there is no current federal or state law counteracting the 1864 statute, it is now enforceable. This decision effectively makes the performance of an abortion illegal in every case except to save a woman’s life.
Justice Lopez indicated that the 15-week law does not independently authorize abortions, and because there is no current federal or state law counteracting the 1864 statute, it is now enforceable. This decision effectively makes the performance of an abortion illegal in every case except to save a woman’s life.
AZ Central reported:
The decision was 4-2, with Justices John R. Lopez IV, Clint Bolick, James P. Beene and Kathryn H. King in the majority. Lopez wrote the majority opinion, while Vice Chief Justice Ann A. Scott Timmer penned a dissent. Chief Justice Robert M. Brutinel joined Timmer.
“Physicians are now on notice that all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman’s life, are illegal … and that additional criminal and regulatory sanctions may apply to abortions performed after fifteen weeks’ gestation,” the ruling reads.
The majority ruled that a law passed in 2022, which prohibited abortions after 15 weeks, did not repeal the pre-statehood law nor create a right to abortion. The justices said the 2022 law was enacted by the Legislature because the prior law was at the time enjoined in court.
“Life is a human right, and today’s decision allows the state to respect that right and fully protect life again—just as the legislature intended,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel Jake Warner, who argued the case before the court in favor of the pre-statehood ban.
One immediate effect of the ruling could be more support for a potential ballot measure in the works for this year. Advocates say they’ve already got more than 500,000 signatures, well above the threshold of 383,923 signatures needed by an early July deadline.
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