(NewsInsights.org) – The Arizona Supreme Court recently ruled to uphold a 160-year-old abortion ban, refusing to overturn a law criminalizing all abortions except in cases where pregnancy puts the mother’s life in danger. Now, Democrats are gearing up to fight for the controversial procedure, hoping to make it legal up until the moment a woman gives birth. Standing in the middle are conservatives and moderates who fear for Arizona if either extreme is allowed to take hold.
The abortion issue fell back into the hands of the state justice system after the US Supreme Court effectively repealed Roe v. Wade with its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. State laws suddenly determined whether the procedure was legal, so Arizona courts had to decide whether to enforce the 160-year-old ban. The state’s Supreme Court justices decided on April 9 to allow the law to stand.
The original provision comes from a 491-page document called the Howell code, which went into effect in 1864 — 48 years before Arizona became a US state. The law comes from Section 45 of the document, which covers deadly poisoning. It states that a person who willfully administers a deadly substance to another person should receive between 10 years to a life sentence in prison. Additionally, anyone who uses any means to cause a woman to miscarry should receive a sentence lasting between 2 and 5 years. The only exception is when continued pregnancy would jeopardize the mother’s life.
Democrats are going on full offense over the decision, pushing for an amendment to the Arizona Constitution that would make abortions legal without any restrictions. The move would be a dramatic shift from the law the state’s Supreme Court just ruled to protect, one that pro-life advocates feel would be a major step in the wrong direction.
Some Republicans, former President Donald Trump included, believe additional safeguards should be in place to protect victims of rape and incest from having to carry the products of those devastating acts to term.
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