Abortion proponents plan to challenge pro-life laws in Arizona now that a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to abortion in the state has gone into effect.
This election cycle, Arizona voters passed a constitutional amendment, Proposition 139, 61.6 percent to 38.4 percent, allowing abortions throughout pregnancy in the state with some restrictions. Arizona was one of seven states to pass an abortion measure, while similar amendments failed in three other states.
While Prop. 139 went into effect last Monday when Arizona’s election results were certified, opponents of the state’s current 15-week abortion limit will now have to sue to overturn it “before it becomes legally unenforceable,” Axios reported. In a press conference last week, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) told reporters her office expects lawsuits to be filed as soon as Monday.
“Years’ worth of litigation may be in store as reproductive rights advocates prepare to challenge various abortion restrictions under the newly passed Proposition 139,” according to the report. “In addition to the ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which lawmakers approved in 2022, Arizona has myriad other regulations and restrictions on how and under what circumstances women can get abortions, who can perform them and how they become accessible to minors.”
Valley OB/GYN and abortionist Paul Isaacson told reporters that attorneys for the Center for Reproductive Rights have a list of abortion-related laws they plan to challenge is a “step-wise fashion.”
“That includes a 24-hour waiting period for abortions, a prohibition on getting abortions due to genetic abnormalities in the fetus, and an informed consent law requiring doctors to inform women about alternatives to abortion,” the report continues.
Senior adviser to Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona Chris Love told the outlet she also expect legal challenges to laws restricting the mailing of abortion pills and telehealth abortions. Mayes said she believes legal challenges under Prop. 139 with “play out over the next couple of years.”
BREAKING: Arizona voters approve Proposition 139, which enshrines a right to abortion in the state constitution, NBC News projects. https://t.co/E6GxtRTKOg pic.twitter.com/25l9i3pogL
— NBC Politics (@NBCPolitics) November 6, 2024
Proposition 139 was put forward by Arizona for Abortion Access — a coalition of groups including ACLU of Arizona, Affirm Sexual and Reproductive Health, Arizona List, Healthcare Rising Arizona, NARAL Arizona, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.
The measure amends the Arizona constitution to declare that “every individual has a fundamental right to abortion” and bars the state from doing anything that:
Denies, restricts, or interferes with that right before fetal viability unless justified by a compelling state interest that is achieved by the least restrictive means.
Denies, restricts, or interferes with an abortion after fetal viability that, in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional, is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.
Penalizes any individual or entity for aiding or assisting a pregnant individual in exercising that individual’s right to abortion as provided in this section.
The Arizona Supreme Court allowed a near-total abortion ban from 1864 to go into effect over the 15-week restriction in April. However, Democrat Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs quickly signed a bill repealing the law on May 2.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
