By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services
Women in Arizona won’t be denied access to abortion, at least up to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, because an 1864 abortion law outlawing it won’t get a chance to be reinstated.
And it’s all because state lawmakers finally ended their 2024 session and went home Saturday.
Legislators voted May 1 to repeal the territorial-era law that outlaws abortion except to save the life of the mother. That followed an April 9 order by the Arizona Supreme Court declaring that the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and its constitutional right of abortion made the old — and never repealed — law again enforceable.
All state laws take effect 91 days after the end of the session.
Saturday’s adjournment makes that Sept. 14.
Attorney General Kris Mayes did get the Arizona justices to delay their “mandate,” the formal order reinstating the old law, until Aug. 12 to give her time to decide whether to seek U.S. Supreme Court review.
