Maricopa County Superior Court of Arizona ruled Wednesday that Arizona’s abortion ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy was unconstitutional and permanently enjoined state employees from enforcing the ban.
Plaintiffs, who are healthcare providers around the state, argued that the abortion ban “radically reduced” people from making autonomous decisions about whether to bear a child, which leads to a serious deprivation of their fundamental constitutional rights under the Arizona Constitution. This also causes a great risk of serious psychological and dignitary harm. They argued that there is no legal remedy to address these harms.
Healthcare providers face criminal, civil and licensing penalties for aiding or abetting in exercising a patient’s right to abortion which contradicts the Arizona constitution. This causes plaintiffs to suffer significant constitutional and psychological harm.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes stated she would “not enforce it even if the court upheld the ban.”
“Abortion bans not only negatively impact individual lives, they impact families and generations, and perpetuate other systems of oppression. Our community deserves the right to make our own decisions about our bodies and our health. And Planned Parenthood Arizona will not stop fighting for our patients and our health care staff.” said Dr. Jill Gibson, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of Arizona.
In November 2024, more than 60 percent of voters adopted an amendment to the state constitution entitled the Arizona Abortion Access Act that guaranteed the “fundamental right to abortion.” However, an Arizona statute stated that “a physician may not intentionally or knowingly perform, induce or attempt to perform or induce an abortion if the probable gestational age of the unborn human being has been determined to be greater than fifteen weeks.” The plaintiffs, in their lawsuit, cited a ruling from Arizona Supreme Court that “a reasonable person would necessarily understand that the 15-Week Ban would be invalid under the Amendment.”
After the US Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization, abortion rights now depend on state laws. Seven states, including Arizona, voted to amend their state constitution to guarantee abortion rights. On the contrary, Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota rejected the amendments.
