Pre-statehood abortion ban enforceable, Arizona attorney general says

PHOENIX — Arizona’s Republican legal professional basic introduced Wednesday {that a} pre-statehood legislation that bans all abortions is enforceable and that he’ll quickly file for the removing of an injunction that has blocked it for practically 50 years.

Legal professional Normal Mark Brnovich’s workplace mentioned after the U.S. Supreme Courtroom overturned its 1973 resolution that mentioned abortion was a constitutional proper that he was weighing whether or not the outdated legislation might be be enforced.

His resolution places him at odds with Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. The governor had mentioned after he signed a brand new legislation banning abortions after 15 weeks in March that it took priority over the legislation in place since at the least 1901, 11 years earlier than Arizona statehood.

However abortion opponents who wrote the brand new legislation and the Republican state senator who sponsored it, Nancy Barto, argued that the outdated legislation might be enforced. They pointed to a particular provision that mentioned it didn’t override that legislation.

“Our workplace has concluded the Legislature has made its intentions clear on the subject of abortion legal guidelines,” Brmovich said on Twitter. “ARS 13-3603 (the pre-statehood legislation) is again in impact and won’t be repealed” when the brand new legislation take impact in late September.

Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin the governor’s workplace was reviewing Brnovich’s resolution and had no instant remark.

The outdated legislation says anybody who helps a pregnant lady receive an abortion may be sentenced to 2 to 5 years in jail. The one exception is that if the lifetime of the lady is in jeopardy.

Abortion clinics throughout Arizona had stopped offering the procedures inside hours of final Friday’s Supreme Courtroom ruling. They cited considerations that the outdated legislation might be enforced.

Deliberate Parenthood Arizona President and CEO Brittany Forteno mentioned the group was outraged by Brnovich’s resolution, which got here after suppliers and sufferers had been dwelling in misery since Friday.

“Now, our extremist Legal professional Normal has introduced his plans to reinstate an antiquated, enjoined 1901 legislation that can ban all abortion in Arizona till the brand new legislation takes impact,” she mentioned. “It’s unconscionable and drastically out of line with the 7 in 10 Arizonans who assist abortion entry.”

In addition to the full ban, a legislation that grants eggs and fetuses all rights can be on the books. Abortion rights advocates are asking a choose who refused to dam it final yr as a result of Roe v. Wade was in impact to rethink his resolution. The choose did block that legislation’s ban on abortions due to a fetal genetic abnormality.

After the Supreme Courtroom resolution, an estimated 7,000 to eight,000 abortion rights protesters gathered on the state Capitol, the place the Legislature was finishing work on the yearly session.

State police used tear gasoline to disperse the gang after a small group of protesters began banging on the state Senate’s glass entrance and one individual tried to kick in a sliding glass door. No arrests or accidents have been reported Friday evening, however protests continued for 2 days and several other folks have been arrested.

Brnovich is amongst a number of Republicans vying for his or her occasion’s nomination for U.S. Senate within the Aug. 2 major.

There have been simply over 13,000 abortions in Arizona in 2020, in accordance with the newest report from the Arizona Division of Well being Providers. Of these, fewer than 650 have been carried out after 15 weeks of gestation.