Arizona’s attorney general says a long-standing abortion ban can be enforced, and Louisiana’s attorney general warns doctors against performing abortions even if a ban there is temporarily blocked, as states grapple with long-halted laws in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade.
Abortion-related legal fights have been reignited in many states after the Supreme Court’s recent ruling less than a week ago.
For Republicans in Arizona, a legislation approved in March prohibiting abortions after 15 weeks took priority over an earlier restriction, which had been in effect since at least 1901, 11 years before the state’s creation. After Roe, Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a fellow Republican, stated he was reviewing the 1901 statute and immediately ceased conducting the surgery out of fear of punishment.
There is a specific clause in this new bill, which has been barred since 1973, that Brnovich supported on Wednesday. This is something that Brnovich says he’ll work on getting unlocked.
Brmovich tweeted that “our office has determined that the Legislature has made its intentions plain with relation to abortion restrictions.” When the new legislation takes effect, “ARS 13-3603 (the pre-statehood statute) is back in effect and will not be repealed.”