The Arizona Supreme Court says Civil War-era local law can stand. (document)
The Supreme Court of Arizona, a key presidential swing state, ruled on Tuesday that a 160-year-old near-total abortion ban could be enforced, meaning doctors who perform abortions could be jailed for up to five years.
The legal ruling sets off a major political shockwave, ensuring that the deeply divisive issue of reproductive rights will take center stage in November, when Arizona is set to be a major battleground between President Joe Biden and his Republican challenger Donald Trump. One of the states where Chance wins.
Almost immediately after the news broke, Biden issued a statement slamming the “cruel ban.”
Citing a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion coverage nationwide, the Arizona Supreme Court said the draconian local law, which dates back to the Civil War, can stand.
When the law was drafted, Arizona was not even an independent state, and women in the United States did not have the right to vote.
Biden said Republicans are “taking away” women’s rights. (document)
Tuesday’s legal ruling included a 14-day suspension of execution.
Adding to the confusion, Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, has vowed not to enforce a ruling she called “an unreasonable … affront to liberty.”
“Today’s decision to reimpose a law when Arizona was not a state, the Civil War was raging and women couldn’t even vote will go down in history as a stain on our state,” she said.
“The debate over reproductive freedom is far from over, and I look forward to the people of Arizona having their say on this matter.
“Let me be absolutely clear, no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law in this state as long as I am attorney general.”
Biden said Republicans are “taking away” women’s rights.
“Millions of Arizonans will soon live under even more extreme and dangerous abortion bans,” Biden said in a statement.
The ruling comes a day after Trump, the de facto Republican presidential nominee, said he favors letting states determine their own abortion rules.
Trump has touted his role in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a half-century-old framework that established the nation’s right to reproductive freedom. Trump said the law is exactly what Americans want now.
“My view right now is that we from a legal standpoint everyone wants abortion, and states will decide that through a vote or legislation or both,” the Republican said in a video posted on his Truth social network.
“Whatever they decide, they have to abide by the laws of the land and, in this case, the laws of the state.”
Biden has said he would push for federal abortion rights to become law again if re-elected and Democrats regain full control of Congress.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
