As in Florida, state courts have suddenly added Arizona to the list of states where abortion is illegal. But voters in this battleground state that could greatly affect control of the White House and the Senate could change all that.
In the first 20 months after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, eliminating any federal constitutional right to choose abortion, 16 states made abortion functionally illegal (either via total bans or bans after six weeks of pregnancy, when women often do not know they are pregnant). In the last week that number rose to 18 as state courts in Florida and now Arizona have given effect to draconian abortion bans. The big difference is that Florida’s six-week ban was first enacted (and then put on hold by the courts) in April 2023. Arizona’s total ban with criminal penalties for doctors performing abortions first appeared in 1864, when Arizona was still a territory, and long before women had the right to vote. In a 4-2 decision, the Arizona Supreme Court swept aside a 15-week ban adopted by the state legislature just before Roe v. Wade was reversed and deemed the older total ban still effective. There are still a couple of procedural steps in the way before abortion becomes a criminal act in Arizona, but within 45 days all access to abortion could shut down except for the rare case when it’s necessary to save the life of a pregnant woman.
