Arizona Supreme Court said, the atrophy of the 1864 law after Roe V Wade judgement will revive to its original disposition. The clauses under the law shall and will be re-enforced after a 14-day hold – once lower court arguments are settled.
The Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated the legitimacy of the ‘civil-war era’ abortion ban which criminalized all-abortions unless it was necessary to save a pregnant woman’s life. The Supreme Court judges in a 4-2 decision announced the near-complete banning of all abortions in the U.S state of Arizona, restoring the provisions envisaged under the 1864 law.
“Physicians are now on notice that all abortions, except those necessary to save a woman’s life are, illegal…no exceptions for rape or incest.”, an official justice statement.
Despite the urgency the matter was subjected to, the justices have kept the ruling on hold in order to allow advocates to mitigate arguments with lower courts in a 14-day notice. A fortnight later, the ruling will eventually be deemed effective.
Tuesday’s ruling immediately sparked a political contention. Governor Katie Hobbs condemned the judgement, outpouring the extremist sentiments the ruling holds. “It is a dark day in Arizona. We are just 14 days away from one of the most extreme abortion bans in the country”, she posted on X.
The judge’s decision to upheld the 1864 near-total ban abortion first passed before women had voting rights will add momentum to campaigns advocating for upliftment of abortion bans on women.
This development is going to cast another shadow on to the forthcoming presidential elections, fueling debates, rallying people on streets to enunciate their disapproval of the institutional mishandling of women’s reproductive rights.
What exactly is the1864 Arizona Abortion Law/
The 1864 law concerning the Supreme Court judgement which came into force long-before Arizona achieved statehood outlines the punishment which will come into effect if any person provides to a pregnant woman, any substance, or employs any instrument with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage.
The 1973 Supreme Court ruling in favor of Roe v Wade, legalizing abortions nationwide had dwindled but not repealed the effect of the law before, which prompted near-total abortion bans in Arizona. But the lightning that struck later was the 2022 Supreme Court judgment which overruled Roe v Wade prompting independent-states to strategize abortion rules.
Subsequently more than two-dozen states have since then endorsed ‘state-regulated’ abortion restrictions including Arizona. But Tuesday’s ruling ‘up-the-ladder’ by enforcing an outright near-total ban on abortions making Arizona one of the seventeen states with no access to abortion facilities.
The stringent-nature of the penalties which the 1864 law outlines further reveal the extremity of the matter. The law will distance medical practitioners from lending hand to pregnant woman desperate for help. The doctors if found guilty could face fines or prison terms of two to five years.
Arizona’s attorney general, Kris Mayes, a democrat, called the ruling “unconscionable and an affront to freedom.” She promised to mount legal resources to fight-off the implementation of the ruling and promised doctors that she would not prosecute them for abortions.
Arizona 1864 law v Pro-abortion groups
The overwhelming efforts by abortion-rights supporters like – Planned Parenthood Arizona, argued the constitutionality of the law which logistically has been overtaken by years of subsequent Arizona laws – most recently, a 2022 law banning abortion after 15th week of pregnancy.
The Republican justices reverted to their queries acknowledging the relevance the law continuous to hold since it was never repealed. Arizona’s State Legislature did not attribute abortion as a right when it passed the 15-week ban, argued justices.
The court’s ruling was a step-back for abortion-right groups who deduced the far-reaching consequences there judgement will have as it would put doctors in legal jeopardy, prompt clinics to stop providing abortion services to women which will further push women and families to travel to nearby states with a better healthcare infrastructure.
The law which has its roots in a “civil-war” era, can it fit itself in the ever-most modernized world?
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