By Howard Fischer | AZ Capitol Times
PHOENIX — The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to delay enforcement of its decision upholding the 1864 abortion ban until Sept. 23, virtually guaranteeing its ruling will never take effect in the state.
The order, signed Thursday by Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer, comes just days after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to give Attorney General Kris Mayes until that same date to decide whether she wants to appeal the state court ruling issued in April. It concluded that the older law, which outlaws abortion except to save the life of the mother, supersedes a 2022 law allowing abortion until 15 weeks of pregnancy.
In a legal filing, Joshua Bendor, the state solicitor general in Mayes’ office, told the U.S. Supreme Court that ruling by the state justices was wrong. He contends they improperly relied on a section of state law that a federal judge had enjoined.
What makes that delay in the effective date of the Arizona Supreme Court ruling authorized by Timmer significant is that state lawmakers voted in May to repeal the old law — leaving only the 15-week statute.
