Arizona appeals court halts enforcement of near-total abortion ban
An Arizona appellate court halted enforcement of the state’s near-total abortion ban late Friday, staying a lower court’s decision to reinstate an older law that does not allow victims of rape or incest to have the procedure at any time.
The order by the Arizona Court of Appeals came after Planned Parenthood Arizona, a reproductive health organization, appealed the September ruling by Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson. The stay is in place until the appellate court can hear the appeal. The lower court had lifted a decades-long injunction on the total-near restrictions, which have their roots in an 1864 law which only allows abortions if they are needed to save the life of a pregnant person.
Judge Peter J. Eckerstrom, writing for the three appellate judges that issued the stay, said the lower court may have erred in resurrecting the Civil War era law, because it conflicts with more recent laws that provide abortion seekers with more leeway. A law that permits abortions for up to 15 weeks took force last month, putting it in conflict with the 1864 near-total ban. Arizona’s GOP Attorney General has previously said he plans to enforce the older law.
“Arizona courts have a responsibility to attempt to harmonize all of this state’s relevant statutes,” Eckerstrom wrote in a one-page order, adding that the “acute need of [health care] providers, prosecuting agencies, and the public for legal clarity” had prompted the order.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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