Arizona judge to hear state request to enforce abortion ban

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona judge will hear arguments Friday on the state's request to allow prosecutors to enforce a near-total ban on abortions under a law that has been blocked for nearly 50 years under a now-overruled U.S. Supreme Court ruling,

Abortion-rights advocates are fighting the request from Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich to lift an injunction blocking enforcement of the ban on abortions unless the mother's life is in danger. That law was first enacted decades before Arizona was granted statehood in 1912 and blocked following the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade legalizing abortion.

Providers across Arizona stopped abortions after the Supreme Court’s June 24 opinion overturning Roe, saying it was too risky to move ahead with the old ban still on the books and with a 2021 law that grants all rights to pre-born children also in play. A federal judge blocked a major part of that law on July 11, but providers have not restarted abortion services.

Brnovich said two days after the “personhood” law was blocked that he would formally seek to have the 1973 injunction blocking the old abortion ban lifted. He had said shortly after the Supreme Court decision that he believed the ban was enforceable,

Attorneys representing Planned Parenthood and its Arizona affiliate argue that a multitude of laws restricting and regulating abortion enacted by the state Legislature since Roe was decided would be rendered meaningless if the court allowed the old law to be enforced.

They note that just this year, the Legislature passed a law signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey that criminalizes performing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Ducey contends that the new law he signed takes precedence over the pre-statehood law.

Planned Parenthood attorneys...