At Arizona abortion clinics, chaos and confusion after court ruling on 1864 ban

The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a 160-year-old abortion ban is enforceable, throwing access into question. Abortion providers faced chaos, confusion and anxiety.

Abortion providers in Arizona faced chaos and confusion after the state’s highest court on Tuesday ruled that a 160-year-old abortion ban is enforceable, throwing abortion access into question.

Dr. DeShawn Taylor, founder and president of the Phoenix-based Desert Star Institute for Family Planning, said she was initially unsure how quickly the change could go into effect, so she rushed her staff to call seven patients with appointments on Tuesday to ask them to come in earlier in the day. 

“We just concentrated on getting patients seen,” Taylor said, adding, “We needed to make sure that we got those abortions done.” 

The bombshell ruling says that a law banning all abortions except to save a woman’s life, which was passed in 1864 before Arizona became a state, can be enforced given that a constitutional right to abortion is no longer guaranteed in the U.S. However, the court put its decision on hold for 14 days so a lower court can consider “additional constitutional challenges” that haven’t been cleared up.

 Even after that, Planned Parenthood Arizona said, the ban can’t take effect until 45 days after the state Supreme Court issues its final ruling, because of a 2022 court decision in a separate case.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/abortion-clinics-arizona-confusion-1864-ban-rcna147157

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