Arizona courts order near-total abortion ban

On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the state must revert to a 123-year-old law making abortions almost entirely illegal except when it is necessary to save a pregnant person’s life.

The court rejected arguments that it should uphold the 15-week ban the state has followed since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, instead deciding to uphold a more restrictive law passed before Arizona was even a state. When it goes into effect in 15 days, abortion will be a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for anyone who performs or helps a woman obtain one. It makes no exceptions for instances of rape or incest.

It comes a week after a pro-choice group obtained enough signatures last week to put an amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution on the ballot in November. This all but ensures that abortion – a major motivating issue for Democratic voters – will play a big role in how the swing state votes in 2024.