The Arizona Senate passed a law on Tuesday that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, a prohibition that is clearly in defiance of reproductive rights codified in 1973’s Roe v. Wade and 1992’s Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
In those Supreme Court cases, a standard was established that legalized abortions until fetuses can survive on their own, typically around the 24th week of pregnancy. Arizona Republicans, who control both chambers of the state legislature and the governor’s office, have disregarded that precedent in the transparent hope that the current Supreme Court will rollback abortion rights.
In fact, the Arizona law closely resembles a Mississippi law that the Supreme Court is considering.
“A ruling in that case is expected in June. This measure makes Arizona ready to enforce that law if and when that decision is made,” explained Sen. Nancy Barto, the Republican sponsor of the bill.
The Associated Press describes the intense pushback from Arizona Democrats:
Democratic Sen. Martin Quezada pushed Barto on the state of the law today, with Roe and a series of follow-up decisions enshrining a woman’s right to abortion.
“I understand the hopes of what the Supreme Court will do from from your side of the aisle,” Quezada said. “But as it stands today, right now, is this law constitutional or not?”
“I believe it is. I believe it is,” Barto said. “I believe our constitution stands clearly for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and the first part of that is life.”
Quezada, who represents parts of Glendale, said that’s just wrong.
“If we are waiting to see what the Supreme Court does, let’s wait to see what the Supreme Court actually does before we start trying to change these laws,” he said. “Otherwise, you’re spinning our wheels right now.”
Arizona Central reports:
The bill now goes to the Republican-controlled House of Representatives. If approved there it will land on Republican Gov. Doug Ducey’s desk and likely be signed into law.
Abortions would only be allowed after 15 weeks in cases of medical emergency under the bill. A medical emergency includes life-threatening conditions and those that “create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”
Arizona doctors who perform the procedure after 15 weeks would be subject to prosecution for a class 6 felony, and face revocation or suspension of their medical licenses. The bill includes no exemptions for cases of rape or incest.
The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health research organization, provides context:
If Roe were overturned or fundamentally weakened, 21 states have laws or constitutional amendments already in place that would make them certain to attempt to ban abortion as quickly as possible. Anti-abortion policymakers in several of these states have also indicated that they will introduce legislation modeled after the Texas six-week abortion ban.