The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday granted state Attorney General Kris Mayes’ request to delay enforcement of the state’s 1864 abortion ban, preventing it from taking effect for the next few months.
The state’s high court on Monday granted a 90-day stay of the 1864 law, meaning the ban cannot be enforced until August 12. Combined with a separate court case, the suspension is in effect until Sept. 26, Mayes said in a statement.
This will give Mayes more time to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court should his office decide to go that route. Without Monday’s ruling, the Civil War-era law could have taken full effect on June 27 at the earliest.
It comes weeks after Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) signed a repeal of the ban passed by the state legislature. The repeal, however, does not take effect until 90 days after the state legislature adjourns for the year.
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Combined with Monday’s ruling, enforcement of the 1864 abortion ban may never take effect, although it depends on when the state legislature adjourns and there is currently no end date in sight.
Arizona is the latest state to grapple with the issue of abortion access after the state Supreme Court last month upheld the state’s 1864 ban on nearly all abortions except in cases to save the mother’s life. The law also imposed prison sentences on doctors who perform abortions.
The 160-year-old law was never repealed and remained in effect for decades. The GOP-appointed state Supreme Court ruled 4-2 that the ban could be enforced because Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Once the repeal takes effect, the state will return to the 15-week ban enacted by former Gov. Doug Ducey (R) in 2022.
Mayes filed a motion for the court to stay a final order for 90 days late last month, and a day later, Planned Parenthood Arizona filed a motion with the state Supreme Court asking it to stay its final order in the case until it can implement the repeal.
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“I continue to believe that this case was wrongly decided and that there are issues that merit additional judicial review,” Mayes wrote Monday. “I will do everything I can to ensure that doctors can provide medical care to their patients based on their best judgment, not based on the beliefs of the men elected to the territorial legislature 160 years ago.”
Mayes said his office is determining the “best” course of legal action, which could include taking the case to the nation’s highest court.
“Planned Parenthood Arizona will continue to provide abortion services through 15 weeks of pregnancy and we remain focused on ensuring patients have access to abortion services for as long as legally possible,” said Angela Florez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, it’s a statement. And she later added: “We will not be intimidated or silenced by anti-abortion extremists, because our bodies and our autonomy are at stake.”
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