Reproductive rights advocates sue Arizona to overturn 15-week abortion ban

Reproductive rights advocates sued Arizona on Tuesday to undo a 15-week abortion ban that conflicts with a constitutional amendment recently approved by voters to expand access to foetal 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 the local chapter of Planned Parenthood and two physicians, arguing the law interferes with pregnant Arizonans’ fundamental right to abortion and individual autonomy. It’s the first step in efforts to dismantle existing laws they say are too restrictive.

The Republican-controlled Arizona Legislature approved the 15-week ban months before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, but it didn’t go into effect until after. Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes agreed not to enforce the 15-week ban while the lawsuit plays out, spokesperson Richie Taylor said Tuesday.

The lawsuit also seeks to undo the ban’s enforcement mechanisms, which could lead to criminal charges against providers who knowingly or intentionally perform abortions beyond 15 weeks except in medical emergencies. Physicians who violate the ban could face suspension or revocation of their medical licences.

“The amendment itself does not sort of wipe the statute books clean, you know. Further action is needed in order to take that additional step to effectuate the amendment’s promise,” ACLU staff attorney Rebecca Chan said. “And so that’s really what this 15-week ban challenge is.”

Arizona was one of five states where voters approved ballot measures in the 2024 general election to add the right to an abortion to their state constitutions. Nevada voters also approved an amendment, but they’ll need to pass it again in 2026 for it to take effect. Another that bans discrimination on the basis of “pregnancy outcomes” prevailed in New York.

The Arizona ballot measure gained momentum after a state Supreme Court ruling in April found that the state could enforce a near-total abortion ban adopted in 1864. Some GOP 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 uterus. Though there’s no defined time frame for viability, doctors say it’s sometime after 21 weeks. It allows abortions after viability if they are necessary to protect the physical or mental health of the mother, or to save her life.

Most abortions happen early in pregnancy. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found that 93% of them nationally in 2022 were in the first 13 weeks, though that data does not include California and some other states where advocates believe a higher proportion of abortions are performed later in pregnancy.

The November 25 certification of the general election opened the door for 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 option to view the image and hear an explanation of what it shows.

Reproductive rights groups signalled then that they would sue over the 15-week abortion ban.

Cathi Herrod, president of the socially conservative Center for Arizona Policy, said at the time that the group would seek to intervene where appropriate.

“We are hopeful that those laws will continue to stand because the government has an interest in enacting laws that protect the health and safety of women. Many of those pro-life laws do just that,” Herrod said.

Most Republican-controlled states have banned or restricted access to abortion, and abortion rights groups have pushed back.

In Missouri, Planned Parenthood affiliates sued immediately after a ballot measure there passed seeking to have bans and other abortion-restricting laws invalidated. The circumstances are different there because that state has a ban on abortion at all stages of pregnancy and no clinics are providing it. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.

Missouri’s Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey wrote in an opinion that he will enforce some laws restricting abortion despite voter approval of a constitutional amendment widely expected to undo the state’s near-total ban on the procedure.