Arizona's Supreme Court has overturned a 160-year-old near-total abortion ban, which makes abortion punishable by two to five years in prison, except in cases where the pregnant person's life is at risk. The ruling could affect women's health care and the upcoming election. Arizona voters may be able to undo the ruling in a November referendum. The decision follows months of legal wrangling about whether the pre-statehood law could be enforced after years of dormancy. Many argued that it had been effectively nullified by decades of state legislation, including a 2022 law that allows abortions until 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The state Supreme Court agreed to review the case in August 2023 after the right-wing law firm, Alliance Defending Freedom, appealed against a lower court ruling that said the more recent law should stand. In a 4-2 ruling, the state supreme court overturned that ruling, saying the 1864 law "is now enforceable" because there were no federal or state protections for the procedure.
Governor Katie Hobbs issued an executive order last year that placed the abortion law enforcement in the hands of state attorney general Kris Mayes, who has promised that Arizonans will not be prosecuted for getting or performing an abortion. Some Republicans also expressed concerns about the ruling, with Kari Lake, a close ally of Donald Trump and a Republican candidate for the state's seat in the US Senate, calling on Governor Hobbs and the state legislature to find a "common sense solution."
Tuesday's ruling will raise the stakes for a state ballot initiative that aims to protect abortion rights until 24 weeks of pregnancy. Activists in the state say they have already met the signature threshold required to put the question to voters this fall.