A judge ruled on Friday that Arizona can put into effect a nearly total abortion ban that has been blocked for almost 50 years. As a result, clinics statewide will have to stop performing the procedures in order to prevent the filing of criminal charges against physicians and other medical professionals.
The judge overturned a long-standing injunction that had prevented Arizona from becoming a state's legislation from being enforced. If the woman's life is in danger, the prohibition is the sole one that applies.
According to the verdict, the state's abortion clinics must close, and anyone wanting an abortion must travel outside of the state. The decision is effective right now, but there is a chance for an appeal. Abortions are coming to an end, according to Planned Parenthood and two other sizable providers.
Since the landmark Roe v. Wade decision from 1973, which gave women a constitutional right to an abortion, was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in June, the fortunes of abortion providers have been on an upswing. Providers initially stopped operating, then resumed, and now they must do so once more.
The judge's decision, according to Planned Parenthood, "put Arizonans back to living under an outdated, 150-year-old legislation," according to the organization's president.
The president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Alexis McGill Johnson, said in a statement that the decision was cruelly forcing pregnant individuals to leave their communities in order to receive abortions.
Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich applauded after pleading with the judge to remove the injunction so that the ban could be put into effect.
In a statement, Brnovich said, "We congratulate the court for supporting the will of the Legislature and giving clarity and uniformity on this vital matter. "I have protected Arizonans who are most at risk and will continue to do so."
The decision was made in the midst of an election year in which Democrats have made abortion rights a crucial issue. Sen. Mark Kelly declared that it "will have a disastrous impact on the freedom Arizona women have enjoyed for decades" to seek an abortion when facing up against Republican Blake Masters. Democratic candidate for governor Katie Hobbs referred to it as the outcome of a decades-long Republican assault on the right to abortion that can only be stopped by voters in November.
Both Masters and the Republican challenger to Hobbs, Kari Lake, support abortion restrictions. No instant response was given by their campaigns.
Judge Kellie Johnson of the Pima County Superior Court issued her decision on Brnovich's motion to lift the injunction more than a month after hearing the arguments.
Before Arizona became a state in 1912, the nearly complete abortion restriction had already been put into place. After the injunction was issued following the Roe ruling, prosecutions were suspended. The law was nevertheless reenacted by the legislature in 1977.
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