A Judge in Pima County, Arizona ruled Friday afternoon to reinstate a law originally written in 1864, during the Civil War, when Arizona was still a territory. The law bans all abortions in the state, but does make exceptions to save the life of the mother. Medical professionals who perform abortions in violation of the legislation will be sentenced to anywhere between two to five years in prison.
“On Friday afternoon, Judge Kellie Johnson sided with the state and said the law, which had been reauthorized by Arizona’s legislature in 1901 and again in 1977, can no longer be blocked.”
AZ Mirror
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a 15-week abortion ban into law earlier this year, which was supposed to go into effect the day after the ruling from Judge Johnson was released. Governor Ducey stated that he believes the 15-week ban takes precedence over the pre-statehood law. However, Judge Johnson specified that “the 15-week ban passed this year specifically said it was not intended to supersede the 1864 abortion ban if Roe was overturned.”
In Arizona, roughly 13,000 abortions have been performed per year, for the last 10 years. For every 1,000 live births in 2020, approximately 172 lives ended in abortion. The AZ Mirror reported that nearly three-quarters of women provide a reason when choosing abortion, and of that number, 70% are voluntary, meaning that the abortion is not elected due to external circumstances such as domestic violence, rape, incest, or life of the mother.
“The Pima County Court Judge lifted the injunction that suppressed the archaic, near-total abortion ban since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Our lawyers are evaluating next steps and we will update our patients and community as soon as possible.
PPAZ offers birth control, EC, STI services, pap smears, annual exams, gender affirming hormone therapy, and HIV prevention.”
Planned Parenthood of Arizona
Planned Parenthood locations in the state remain open, as their website stipulates they will be providing other services — including “gender-affirming hormone therapy.”
As pro-life organizations celebrate this ruling, they remain aware that more education surrounding the topic of abortion is still needed if there is ever going to be lasting change on this front. So many women believe that states outlawing abortion do not make exceptions for the life of the mother, and fall for the lies being sold to them that claim thousands of women will die from this legislation. Every single life is immeasurably valuable, and this law recognizes that basic yet fundamental truth.
