PHOENIX — Arizona is saying goodbye to its Civil War ban on nearly all abortions as a repeal bill reaches Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk.
Hobbs says the repeal, expected to be signed Thursday, is just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive health in Arizona. But the repeal may only come into force 90 days after the end of the legislative session, in June or July. Abortion rights advocates hope a court will intervene to prevent this outcome.
The effort to repeal the ban won final legislative approval on Wednesday in a 16-14 vote in the Senate, when two Republican lawmakers joined Democrats.
Voting went on for hours as senators described their motivations in personal, emotional and even biblical terms — including graphic descriptions of abortion procedures and amplified audio recordings of fetal heartbeats, along with warnings against the dangers of “legislating beliefs religious.”
At the same time, on Wednesday, supporters of an abortion rights initiative in South Dakota submitted far more signatures than needed to get on the ballot this fall, while in Florida a ban went into effect against most abortions. after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they are pregnant.
Arizona’s Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes, an opponent of a near-total abortion ban, said the earliest the latent abortion ban law could be enforced would be June 27, although she has asked the highest court of the state to block the application until the end of July. . But the anti-abortion group advocating the ban, Alliance Defending Freedom, says county prosecutors could begin enforcing it as soon as the Supreme Court ruling becomes final, which it hasn’t yet.
The near-total ban, which predates Arizona’s statehood, allows abortion only to save the patient’s life and offers no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. In a ruling last month, the Arizona Supreme Court suggested that doctors could be prosecuted under a law first passed in 1864, which carries a sentence of two to five years in prison for anyone who assists in an abortion.
A repeal means a 2022 law banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy would become Arizona’s prevailing abortion law.
Dr. Ronald Yunis, a Phoenix-based obstetrician-gynecologist who also provides abortions, called the repeal a positive development for women who might otherwise leave Arizona to receive medical care.
“This is good to ensure that women will not have to travel to other states just to get the health care they need,” Yunis said. “I wasn’t too worried because I have a lot of confidence in our governor and attorney general. I am sure they will continue to find ways to protect women.”
Arizona is one of the few swing states that will decide the next president. Former President Donald Trump, who warned the issue could lead to Republican losses, stopped short of endorsing a national abortion ban but said he was proud to have appointed the Supreme Court justices who allowed states to ban them.
President Joe Biden’s campaign team believes anger over the Roe v. Wade gives them a political advantage in swing states like Arizona, although the issue has divided Republican leaders.
Abortion ban supporters in the Senate gallery on Wednesday jeered and interrupted Republican state Sen. Shawnna Bolick as she explained her vote in favor of repeal, joining Democrats. Bolick is married to state Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick, who voted in April to allow an 1864 abortion law to be enforced again. He faces a retention election in November.
The 19th century law had been blocked since the Roe v. Wade decision. Wade of the US Supreme Court in 1973 guaranteed the constitutional right to abortion throughout the country.
After Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, then-Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a Republican, persuaded a state judge that the 1864 ban could be enforced. Still, the law was not actually enforced while the case was working its way through the courts.
Planned Parenthood Arizona filed a motion Wednesday afternoon asking the state Supreme Court to avoid a pause on abortion services until the Legislature’s repeal takes effect.
Advocates are collecting signatures for a ballot measure that would allow abortion until the fetus can survive outside the womb, typically around 24 weeks, with exceptions — to save the parents’ lives or to protect their physical or mental health.
Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, are considering placing one or more competing abortion proposals on the November ballot.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
