Arizona - Abolitionists Rising

Arizona

Status of Abortion:

Legal

for mothers.

Legal

for abortionists.

Upon the overturn of Roe v. Wade, it was widely thought that the pre-Roe abortion ban would go back into effect. However, the most recent Arizona appeals court ruling said that the pre- Roe ban could not go into effect because all of the pro-life regulations passed since the pre- Roe abortion ban rendered the older law void. This ruling is a based on the legal principle that when two laws conflict, the more recent law takes prominence. So it’s pro-life regulations that provided the pro-abortion judges the cover they needed to keep abortion legal in Arizona. The result of the ruling is that the abortion ban is struck down, while all of the pro-life regulations passed since the abortion ban were allowed to stand. These include a 15-week ban, 24-hour waiting period, an ultrasound law, a Down Syndrome abortion ban, and a few others. None of these laws have any substantial impact on the abortion rate.

Abolition History:

In 2022, State Rep. Walt Blackman introduced HB2650. Though the bill was coauthored by nine other representatives, it never received a hearing in the House Rules Committee which is chaired by Rep. Travis Grantham.