Arizona Supreme Court made a historic decision The court ruled that the state must comply with a 123-year-old law that bans all abortions except to save the mother’s life.
The law dates back to 1864 and imposes prison sentences of two to five years for abortionists. The judges heard arguments in the case, Arizona Planned Parenthood v. Mays/Haysarigasked in December and asked to answer whether Arizona’s 15-week abortion limit, signed into law in March 2022, overrides the old law.
The court did not rule on the constitutionality of the 1864 law, but issued a 4-2 decision with one negative finding that the 1864 law was “enforceable” beyond the new 15-week limit. did.
“We will consider whether the Arizona Legislature will be abolished or limited. [the old law] “By enacting a law that prohibits physicians from performing elective abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy,” Justice John Lopez wrote for the majority opinion. “This case involves legal interpretation and is not based on the justices’ moral or public policy views on abortion. [the old law’s] Constitutionality is not before us. ”
“Because there is no right to abortion enshrined in the federal constitution, [the fifteen-week limit] It does not independently sanction abortion, and there are no federal or state laws prohibiting abortion. [the 1864 law’s] Surgery. Accordingly, [the 1864 law] Now it’s enforceable,” Lopez continued.
The Arizona Supreme Court ultimately upheld the lower court’s decision to vacate the injunction against the near-total ban, but did not require full enforcement of the law to allow the parties to decide how to pursue further action. It was postponed for 14 days. The state high court also sent the case back to the trial court for possible consideration of remaining constitutional issues.
“The abortion issue is a moral and public policy issue that always provokes lively debate and sharp disagreements among the public,” the opinion said. “Policy issues of this magnitude must ultimately be resolved by the people through legislative and initiative processes. Today, we refuse to make this critical policy decision. Instead, we are subject to our limited constitutional role and obligation to interpret the law as written.”
The state Supreme Court’s decision comes as pro-abortion activists are working on an amendment that would create a constitutional right to abortion in Arizona.
Access to abortion in Arizona — union Last week, the ACLU of Arizona, Reproductive Health Affirming, Arizona List, Healthcare Rising Arizona, NARAL Arizona, and Arizona Family Planning Advocates received far more than the 383,923 letters needed for the proposal. They announced that they had collected over 500,000 signatures. Amendment to qualify for November ballot. If the abortion bill passes on the November ballot, it would require a simple majority for passage.
Arizona is one of about a dozen states where pro-abortion activists are active. work Codifying the right to kill the unborn child.
The case is Family Planning Arizona vs. Mays/HazelriggArizona Supreme Court No. CV-23-5-PR
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her at @thekat_Hamilton.
