Arizona attorney general: Pre-state abortion ban enforceable
“Our office has concluded the Legislature has made its intentions clear with regards to abortion laws,” Brmovich said on Twitter. “ARS 13-3603 (the pre-statehood law) is back in effect and will not be repealed” when the new law takes effect in late September.
The old law says anyone who helps a pregnant woman obtain an abortion can be sentenced to two to five years in prison. The only exception is if the life of the woman is in jeopardy.
Abortion clinics across Arizona had stopped providing the procedures within hours of last Friday’s Supreme Court ruling. They cited concerns that the old law could be enforced.
Explaining the halt in procedures, Planned Parenthood Arizona President and CEO Brittany Forteno said the possibility of prosecutions was just too risky to continue providing abortion care. Other abortion providers followed suit.
Besides the total ban, a law that grants eggs and fetuses all rights is also on the books. Abortion rights advocates are asking a judge who refused to block it last year because Roe v. Wade was in effect to consider his decision. The arizona-us-supreme-court-ed8133637e92bd1be872a1ed5583a66b”judge did block that law’s ban on abortions because of a fetal genetic abnormality.
After the Supreme Court decision, an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 abortion rights protesters gathered at the state Capitol, where the Legislature was completing work on the yearly session.
State police used tear gas to disperse the crowd after a small group of protesters started banging on the state Senate’s glass front and one person tried to kick in a sliding glass door. No arrests or injuries were reported Friday night, but protests continued for two days and several people were arrested.
Brnovich is among several Republicans vying for their party’s nomination for US Senate in the Aug. 2 primaries.
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