The activists said they will continue protesting at clinics for the next two weeks and work to penalize self-managed abortions.

The 1864 Arizona law outlawed abortion from the moment of conception, with an exception to save the woman’s life. It made abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performed an abortion or helped a person obtain one. Tuesday’s decision effectively undoes a lower court’s ruling that held that a recent 15-week ban superseded the law.

Reproductive rights advocates and supporters like Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes have called the law “draconian” and argued that a 160-year-old policy has no place in the state’s modern political landscape. But Lynn Dyer, 80, with the Life Choices Women’s Clinic doesn’t see it that way. She said she was “overjoyed” when the ruling came down.

In the days following Tuesday’s decision, reproductive rights groups and advocates have protested across the state as abortion providers wrestle with how to move forward. The state Supreme Court said Tuesday it would put its decision on hold for 14 days so a lower court can consider “additional constitutional challenges.” Reproductive rights advocates can appeal the ruling in the two-week window. Meanwhile, a separate, ongoing suit would allow abortion providers to continue providing services through the 15th week of pregnancy until the end of May.

  • Flying Squid
    link
    307 months ago

    Of course they aren’t. I still see huge anti-abortion billboards here in Indiana. It’s been illegal here since last August, apart from some very restrictive circumstances. And they aren’t all leftovers. I’ve seen new ones go up.

    And, of course, the big, well-funded Crisis Pregnancy Center still continues to operate from its big downtown office in a new building, while the Planned Parenthood (which didn’t even perform abortions at this location) has closed down.

    They don’t care if abortion is illegal. The anti-abortion machine is on autopilot as long as the money keeps flowing in.