The Arizona Legislature will not continue attempting to enact a law that would ban virtually all abortions, at least not this year.
HB 2140 would have banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat was detected, with some exceptions. But Senate President Karen Fann told Capitol Media Services she will not allow the bill to come to the floor for debate. She said the measure did not get enough support and was not properly vetted legally.
Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, which opposes abortions, did not even lobby for it. She plans to focus on a different bill.
“I'm not opposed to heartbeat legislation. But the courts have declined to uphold heartbeat laws as constitutional. Yeah, so our focus is on [SB 1457] to protect babies with genetic abnormalities," Harrod said.
That bill requires one more Senate vote, after the House made modifications, before heading to the governor.
