PHOENIX (AP) — Reproductive rights advocates sued Arizona on Tuesday to overturn a 15-week abortion ban that conflicts with a constitutional amendment recently approved by voters to expand access until fetal viability.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed the lawsuit in Maricopa County Superior Court on behalf of Planned Parenthood’s local chapter and two doctors, arguing that the law impinges on pregnant Arizonans’ fundamental rights to abortion and individual autonomy. This is the first step in efforts to scrap existing laws, which they say are too restrictive.
Arizona’s Republican-controlled legislature approved the 15-week ban months before the U.S. Supreme Court heard Roe v. Wade repealed it in 2022, but it did not take effect until after that. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes agreed not to enforce the 15-week ban while the lawsuit is ongoing, spokesman Richie Taylor said Tuesday.
Arizona’s Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a statement Tuesday that the ban should be taken off the books.
“Arizona residents have made it clear that they support reproductive freedom, and there is no question that a blanket ban on rape or incest should be removed from our laws,” she said, adding that she is “glad that “Arizona residents work to finish this job and enforce the constitutional protections we now enjoy.”
The lawsuit also seeks to override the ban’s enforcement mechanisms, which could lead to criminal charges against providers who knowingly or intentionally perform abortions after 15 weeks, except in medical emergencies. Doctors who violate the ban face suspension or revocation of their license to practice medicine.
“The amendment itself doesn’t wipe out the law books in a sense, you know. Further action is needed to take this additional step toward implementing the promise of the change,” said ACLU staff attorney Rebecca Chan. “And that’s what this 15-week lockdown challenge is all about.”
Arizona was one of five states where voters approved ballot measures in the 2024 general election to add abortion rights to their state constitutions. Nevada voters also approved an amendment to codify existing abortion rights in the state constitution, but must pass it again in 2026 for it to take effect. In New York, a different law prevailed that prohibits discrimination based on “pregnancy outcomes.”
The ballot measure in Arizona gained momentum after a state Supreme Court ruling in April found that the state could enforce a near-total 1864 ban on abortion. Some Republican lawmakers joined with Democrats to repeal the law before it could be enforced.
The measure expands access to fetal viability – the point at which a fetus can survive outside the womb. Although there is no defined time frame for viability, doctors say it will be sometime after 21 weeks. It allows abortions after viability if they are necessary to protect the mother’s physical or mental health or to save her life.
Most abortions occur early in pregnancy. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 93% of abortions nationwide in 2022 occurred in the first 13 weeks. However, this data does not include California and some other states where advocates believe a higher proportion of abortions occur later in pregnancy.
The certification of the Nov. 25 general election opened the door to legal challenges to laws that conflict with the ballot measure, including a law that requires patients to have an ultrasound at least 24 hours before an abortion with the opportunity to view the image and Hear an explanation of what it shows.
Reproductive rights groups signaled at the time that they would sue over the 15-week abortion ban.
“It appears that Planned Parenthood and the ACLU and their allies have little regard for the life of an unborn child and the development of an unborn child,” said Cathi Herrod, president of the social conservative Center for Arizona Policy. Herrod had previously said the group would seek to intervene if necessary.
Most Republican-controlled states have banned or restricted access to abortion, and abortion rights groups have pushed back.
In Missouri, Planned Parenthood affiliates filed a lawsuit immediately after the passage of a ballot measure demanding the repeal of bans and other abortion restrictions. The circumstances are different there, as abortion is prohibited there at all stages of pregnancy and no clinic offers this. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Republican Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote in a statement that he would push through some laws restricting abortion even as voters approved a constitutional amendment widely expected to lift the state’s near-total ban on the procedure would.
