AZ Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments on Near-Total Abortion Ban

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PHOENIX, AZ – The Arizona Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in Planned Parenthood Arizona v. Mayes about whether to restore Arizona’s pre-statehood near-total abortion ban from 1864 or solely enforce the 15-week ban enacted in March 2022 that is currently in effect.

Planned Parenthood is challenging the potential reinstatement of the 159-year-old abortion ban, which has exceptions only for life-threatening emergencies, but had been blocked by the now overturned 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. In December 2022, the Arizona Court of Appeals evaluated the Civil War-era ban and stated it must be “harmonized” with the more current law. The Court denied it from retaking effect favoring the more recent 15-week ban.

In May 2023, Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief urging the Arizona Supreme Court to review the case. Then in October, Liberty Counsel filed another amicus brief in this arguing for the reinstatement of the original 1864 law, both to protect life and to prevent Arizona’s prohibition on eugenic abortions from being undermined. Liberty Counsel filed the amicus briefs on behalf of the Arizona Life Coalition, the Frederick Douglass Foundation and the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference which have a strong interest in exposing the racist and eugenic history of the abortion movement that has had catastrophic effects on their communities and other vulnerable populations. These organizations also have a strong interest in defending state laws like Arizona’s 159-year-old abortion ban to protect unborn minority and disabled children from social eugenic policies.