PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that all doctors in the state should be on notice that "all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman’s life, are illegal."
In the lengthy ruling released Tuesday, the court's decision essentially allows an abortion law dating back to the Civil War to remain in effect. That law effectively bans all abortions except in the case of danger to the mother.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: Suprema Corte de Arizona dictamina que todos los abortos electivos son ‘ilegales’
"To date, our legislature has never affirmatively created a right to, or independently authorized, elective abortion. We defer, as we are constitutionally obligated to do, to the legislature’s judgment, which is accountable to, and thus reflects, the mutable will of our citizens," the ruling states.
The justices argued that the old, pre-statehood law can stand because the "legislature has demonstrated its consistent design to restrict elective abortion to the degree permitted by the Supremacy Clause and an unwavering intent since 1864 to proscribe elective abortions absent a federal constitutional right."
The justices allowed for 14 days to pass before the near-total abortion ban can be enforced.
Gov. Katie Hobbs called upon the Republican-controlled Legislature to repeal the 1864 abortion law before it takes effect again in Arizona.
" I am calling on the legislature to do the right thing right now and repeal this 1864 ban and protect access to reproductive health care. The Republican majority in the legislature has time and again refused to act to protect our freedoms," Hobbs said.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, quickly condemned the court's decision in the following statement:
The decision made by the Arizona Supreme Court today is unconscionable and an affront to freedom. Make no mistake, by effectively striking down a law passed this century and replacing it with one from 160 years ago, the Court has risked the health and lives of Arizonans.
Today's decision to reimpose a law from a time when Arizona wasn't a state, the Civil War was raging, and women couldn't even vote will go down in history as a stain on our state. This is far from the end of the debate on reproductive freedom, and I look forward to the people of Arizona having their say in the matter. And let me be completely clear, as long as I am Attorney General, no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law in this state.
On the other side of the debate, Arizona Right to Life celebrated the court's ruling.
"We are delighted that the court recognized and upheld Arizona's long history of protecting unborn babies and their mothers," the organization said.
The Alliance Defending Freedom represented Dr. Eric Hazelrigg, a medical director for Choices Pregnancy Centers to petition the Arizona Supreme Court to reverse a lower court's ruling.
"I have the honor of serving these women and families and bringing children into the world. Every one of them deserves real support and real health care," Hazelrigg said following the release of the ruling.
Battle over abortion in Arizona
The battle over whether women in Arizona have the right to get an abortion or not began back in June 2022 when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade case and made abortion rights a state issue.
In late 2022, a state appeals court ruled that abortion was legal in Arizona up to the 15th week of pregnancy, unless the abortion is needed to save the mother's life, in a case brought by Planned Parenthood of Arizona. That decision was based on a bill passed less than three months before Roe v. Wade was overturned.
In May 2023, the Arizona Supreme Court was briefed on a petition to review that ruling. In August 2023, they decided to hear the case.
The appeal was filed by the Christian law firm Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of Dr. Eric Hazelrigg, an obstetrician and medical director of Choices Pregnancy Center in Arizona.
ADF lawyers and other abortion opponents argue that a 160-year-old near-total ban on abortion, which was enacted before Arizona was a state, should be state law.
Under that ban, which was passed in 1864, doctors would face two to five years in prison if they performed an abortion. The only exception would be to save the mother's life. This law has remained in Arizona's statutes but has been inactive due to an injunction.
Reproductive rights advocates in Arizona have said they would be satisfied with the 15-week abortion ban remaining, as it would put an end to uncertainty among patients and health care providers.
The Arizona Supreme Court heard arguments over whether the 1864 near-total abortion ban should become state law or made moot on Dec. 12, 2023.
The 15-week ban on abortion remained in effect after Arizona's Supreme Court justices heard the arguments.
Over the past five months since the arguments, reproductive rights have been a hot topic in Arizona.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Arizona in March and spoke at a rally to support reproductive freedoms.
Later that month, Arizona state Senator Eva Burch (D-District 9) went public with her plan to get an abortion on the Senate floor. She later sat down with 12News Political Insider Brahm Resnik to discuss why she not only had the abortion but went public with it.
Arizona also received a visit from Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Michigan) this past week. She spoke to reproductive rights supporters at a coffee house in downtown Phoenix.
The battle over abortion in Arizona set to continue
Even with Arizona's Supreme Court issuing its ruling on Tuesday, reproductive rights are set to continue to be a hot topic through Election Day.
Arizona is one of 11 states that could see an abortion rights initiative on the ballot this November.
The Arizona for Abortion Access Act would create an amendment to the state constitution that would guarantee the right to an abortion in the state.
The campaign to put this initiative on the ballot has already gathered more than 500,000 signatures. The threshold to make it on the ballot is about 384,000. However, Arizona for Abortion Access, the group behind the initiative, says they hope to have about 800,000 signatures by the July 3 deadline for turning them in.
This is so they have a cushion in case some of the signatures are ruled to be invalid.
An organization called It Goes Too Far is running a "Decline to Sign" campaign aimed at thwarting signature gatherers. They are also planning a fall campaign to defeat the initiative if it makes it onto the ballot.
12News journalists Jeff Vinton, Brahm Resnik, John Tanet, Kyra O'Connor and Colleen Sikora also contributed to this report, along with information from the Associated Press.
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