Arizona court halts enforcement of near-total abortion ban
An Arizona appellate court halted enforcement of the state’s near-total abortion ban late Friday, staying a lower court’s decision to reinstate an older law which only allows the procedure if it is needed to save the life of a pregnant person.
The order by the Arizona Court of Appeals came after Planned Parenthood Arizona, a reproductive health organization, appealed the September ruling by Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson. The stay is in place until the appellate court can hear the appeal. Johnson had lifted a decades-long injunction on the near-total restrictions, which are rooted in an 1864 law that has no exceptions for victims of rape or incest and threatens abortion providers with imprisonment for as long as five years.
Judge Peter J. Eckerstrom, writing for the three appellate judges that issued the stay, said the lower court may have erred in resurrecting the Civil War-era law, because it conflicts with more recent laws that provide abortion seekers with more leeway. A law that permits abortions for up to 15 weeks took force last month, putting it in conflict with the 1864 ban. State Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R), who opposes abortion rights and has said he plans to enforce the older law, had urged the courts to provide clarity on the issue.
more:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/10/07/arizona-abortion-law-planned-parenthood/
Do something positive.
| 