Judge Temporarily Blocks Parts of New Arizona Abortion Law - The Wall Street Journal
Judge Rayes said it would “place a substantial obstacle” in the way of patients and could hinder their relationship with their doctor. He said few abortion providers in the state perform the procedure later in pregnancy, around the time when a genetic diagnosis could be determined.
The judge also blocked another section of the law that would have allowed anyone who raised or provided funding for such abortions to be charged as well.
The new Arizona law took effect Wednesday. Signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in April, it includes other abortion regulations like barring doctors or providers from sending abortion-inducing medication to patients by mail.
Two Arizona-based physicians and state-based organizations, represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Arizona, sued the state in August, arguing the law violated a person’s constitutional rights to an abortion. They said the decision to get an abortion can be complex.
“This ruling is a victory for Arizonans,” said Ruth Harlow, senior staff attorney at the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, which represented plaintiffs in the case. “Politicians shouldn’t have the power to approve or reject our personal medical decisions and charge physicians with felonies for serving their patients.”
Supporters of the law say deciding to get an abortion based solely on a fetus’s genetic abnormalities is discriminatory.
“We remain confident the law will be upheld and ruled enforceable in its entirety,” said Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, which supported the legislation. The office of Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, a defendant in the case, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
When Mr. Ducey signed the legislation in April, the governor said it furthered and enhanced protections for fetuses. “There’s immeasurable value in every single life—regardless of genetic makeup,” he said.
Judge Rayes’s order Tuesday didn’t block part of the law that states fetuses, at any stage of development, would have the same civil rights as any person in Arizona. The judge, who was nominated to the bench by President Obama, said that section would have to be challenged in state courts depending on how it is enforced.
Several states in recent years have passed laws restricting or barring abortions based solely on genetic abnormalities like Down syndrome. In June, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, vetoed similar legislation passed by the state legislature.
In April, a federal appeals court upheld an Ohio law that prevents physicians from providing abortions to patients who said they were seeking the procedure due to a fetus’s potential genetic disorder. It was the first time a federal appellate court said this kind of law didn’t violate a constitutional right to an abortion.
Several months later in June, a different federal appeals court blocked Missouri from enforcing a 2019 law that made it illegal for a physician to perform an abortion after learning a patient sought the procedure due to fears the fetus had Down syndrome. The decision cited Supreme Court precedent that bars states from restricting abortions before a fetus has reached the stage of viability, which means it can survive outside of the womb.
A highly anticipated case before the Supreme Court later this year could lead to the most important ruling on abortion since Roe v. Wade in 1973. The court will begin hearing arguments Dec. 1 over a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks, which is earlier than the standard previously set by the Supreme Court.
In a 5-4 vote in early September, the Supreme Court allowed a Texas law barring abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy to take effect, barring most procedures in the state. The most restrictive abortion law in effect in the U.S., the Texas law left abortion providers scrambling to adjust to the new rules and people seeking abortions to search for care outside of the state. The Justice Department sued Texas over the law earlier this month. A federal judge set an Oct. 1 hearing for the case.
Write to Jennifer Calfas at [email protected]
source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/judge-temporarily-blocks-parts-of-new-arizona-abortion-law-11632936417
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