Arizona Supreme Court Punts Creepy Victorian Abortion Law 135 Days Into Future
Arizona Supreme Court Punts Creepy Victorian Abortion Law 135 Days Into Future
Now there may only be a monthlong gap while it's still in effect. This is all dumb!
When we last left the state of Arizona and the saga of their terrible old timey abortion ban (and their also terrible but less old timey abortion ban), the Legislature had just passed a bill repealing the old timey one and Gov. Katie Hobbs had officially signed it into law. The catch, unfortunately, is that the repeal wouldn’t actually go into effect until 90 days after the Legislature disbanded, leaving Arizonans with a gap to mind.
On Monday, the state supreme court decided to do the right thing and keep the draconian 1864 abortion ban — which bans all abortions, with no exceptions except to save the life of the mother — from going into effect for 90 days, plus the 45 additional days already granted by another court. Hooray!
This would keep the law from going into effect until September 26, during which the office of state Attorney General Kris Mayes will be able to figure out how they want to handle this and whether or not they want to go to the US Supreme Court.
“I will do everything I can to ensure that doctors can provide medical care for their patients according to their best judgment, not the beliefs of the men elected to the territorial legislature 160 years ago,” Mayes said in a statement.
Unfortunately, on Monday, the court also denied an appeal from Planned Parenthood to keep the ban from going into effect until the law repealing it goes into effect. It’s not yet clear when the ban would be going into effect, because the Legislature has not yet ended its session this year. Last year, it ended on July 31. If it’s the same this year, that would mean the law, as of right now, would go into effect for about a month before being officially repealed.
It seems as though there should be an option besides letting the ban go into effect for a month or going to the US Supreme Court to keep the ban from going into effect for a month, but that is just not the case at the moment.
Abortion rights advocates in the state will now work on repealing the also-terrible 15-week abortion ban, as well as another, especially cruel law, banning people from having abortions due to “genetic abnormalities” — you know, things like trisomy 18, which is usually fatal within a year of birth.
Hopefully, all of that will be cleared up soon and Arizonans will not have to base their reproductive choices on Victorian sensibilities or the whims of Republican legislators.
PREVIOUSLY:
Ta, Robyn. Abortion is healthcare. No one's business apart from the patient and the medical professional.
It's been mentioned before, but this is about who can get abortions, not making them illegal. The wives, daughters, and mistresses (particularly the latter) of rich, connected men will always be able to get abortions. Hoi polloi like you and me will still be banned from health care.