Arizona Supreme Court To Rule On Abortion Access Tuesday

The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday is expected to decide whether the state’s current ban on nearly all abortions after 15 weeks will stay in place, or if it will revert back to a far narrower 123-year-old penal code with roots in the Civil War era.

The older law barred the procedure in all cases regardless of gestation, except when “it is necessary to save” a pregnant person’s life. It carried a prison sentence of two to five years for abortion providers.

Arizona Supreme Court on Abortion case

The Arizona Supreme Court is expected to hand down its most historic ruling in recent history by Tuesday, deciding whether to allow legal abortions up to 15 weeks or reinstate a Civil War-era law that bans nearly all abortions.

The state’s high court announced Monday that it anticipates the filing of an opinion in the Planned Parenthood v. Kristin Mayes/Hazelrigg case by 10 a.m. local time on Tuesday. The ruling will come four months after the court heard oral arguments about two competing abortion bans that were passed 158 years apart.

The landmark case carries far-reaching consequences for women’s health and has the potential to shape the upcoming elections in a key swing state that could decide who wins the White House and which political party controls Congress.

Currently, abortions are legal in Arizona up to 15 weeks of pregnancy under a 2022 law.

Should the justices uphold the Republican-backed law that was passed in 2022, access to legal abortion would be outlawed after 15 weeks, with the only exception being when the life of the mother was at risk. However, if the six justices presiding over the case reinstate the 1864 law, then legal access to the medical procedure would be banned in all cases except for the life of the mother.

Reinstating the so-called territorial ban could force the immediate closure of abortion clinics throughout the state. A near-total ban has the potential to further fuel supporters of a potential ballot measure seeking to enshrine access to abortion in the state constitution.

Last week, the group working to put the Arizona Abortion Access Act on the November ballot announced they had far more signatures than needed to secure a spot.

Supporters announced they had gathered more than 500,000 signatures, which is far more than the roughly 383,000 signatures they need to file with the state by the July 3 deadline.

If passed by the voters, the ballot measure would protect the right for Arizonans to obtain an abortion up to the point of foetal viability, which is considered 22-24 weeks, and includes exceptions for when the physical or mental health of the woman is at risk.

The expected ruling also comes after former U.S. President Donald Trump declined to endorse a national abortion ban and said it should be left to the states.

“Many people have asked me what my position is on abortion and abortion rights,” Trump said in a video posted on his Truth Social page. “My view is now that we have abortion where everybody wants it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land — in this case, the law of the state.”

Biden’s campaign was quick to seize on the moment, with spokesperson Ammar Moussa posting on X that Trump was “endorsing every single abortion ban in the states, including abortion bans with no exceptions … and he’s bragging about his role in creating this hellscape.”

In a statement, Biden said Trump has played a part in being “responsible for creating the cruelty and the chaos that has enveloped America since the Dobbs decision,” a situation he said is reflected in women “being turned away from emergency rooms, forced to go to court to seek permission for the medical attention they need, and left to travel hundreds of miles for health care.”

In Short, The state Supreme Court was asked for clarity following months of uncertainty and legal wrangling over which law should apply in the state.

Last week, arizona supreme court case lookup on abortion access, a group of abortion rights organisations, announced it had gathered enough signatures for a November 2024 ballot measure that would ask voters to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution.