A Maricopa County Superior Court judge on Tuesday permanently blocked Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban.
Arizona lawmakers in 2022 passed a law to prohibit abortions after 15 weeks of gestation. Then in 2024, Arizona voters passed a constitutional amendment expanding abortion access to the point of fetal viability – around 24 weeks – with some exceptions beyond that.
But the new amendment to the Arizona Constitution did not automatically overturn the 15-week ban. So a group of Arizona doctors and the ACLU filed a lawsuit in December to get the conflicting law blocked.
No anti-abortion groups stepped in to defend the law and the judge sided with the doctors, declaring the 15-week law unconstitutional.
Some Arizona abortion providers have already resumed performing abortions beyond 15 weeks, since Attorney General Kris Mayes submitted a stipulation to the court when the lawsuit was filed, saying the state would not enforce the 15-week law while the case was pending.
This is expected to be the first of several lawsuits resulting from the new amendment, since Arizona has dozens of other abortion restrictions still on the books.
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Arizona voters approved adding constitutional protections for abortion rights in 2024. But that hasn’t stopped state lawmakers from taking up the issue in various forms since that time. -
State lawmakers are moving to make criminals out of doctors and pharmacists who send abortion-inducing drugs to Arizona women — as well as those who seek them — but questions remain over whether the bill is constitutional. -
Planned Parenthood Arizona is offering new services and has seen an uptick in patients after a February ruling blocking many abortion restrictions in the state. -
It’s been two years since Arizona voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 139 into law, enshrining abortion rights until about 24 weeks gestation in the state Constitution. -
Medical residency applications have dropped significantly in abortion-restricted states following the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade.
