Arizona Supreme Court Reinstates Near-Total Ban on Abortions
Demonstrators in Phoenix on Jan. 20. Reproductive rights advocates are currently collecting signatures for a November ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona Constitution.
Photographer: Caitlin O'Hara/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
An 1864 law that criminalized nearly all abortions in Arizona can take effect, the state’s top court said Tuesday.
The law—enacted before Arizona became a state—wasn’t repealed or restricted by a later law that banned abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy, Justice John R. Lopez IV said. That 2022 state law didn’t “create a right to, or otherwise provide independent statutory authority for, an abortion,” he said.