The Arizona Court of Appeals’ order came after Planned Parenthood Arizona, a reproductive health organization, appealed a September ruling by Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson. The stay is in effect until the appeal is heard by the appellate court. Johnson had lifted a decades-old order on the near-total restrictions, which have their roots in an 1864 law that has no exemptions for victims of rape or incest and threatens abortion providers with up to five years in prison. Judge Peter J. Eckerstrom, writing for the three appellate judges who issued the stay, said the lower court may have erred in reviving the Civil War-era law because it conflicts with more recent laws that give abortion seekers more margins. A law allowing abortions up to 15 weeks went into effect last month, putting it in conflict with the 1864 ban. Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R), who opposes abortion rights and has said he plans to enforce the older law, urged the courts to provide clarity on the issue. Johnson, the Pima County judge, had ruled that the older law, which was updated and codified in 1901, supersedes the 15-week ban enacted this year. She said in her order that the state legislature had specifically drafted the 2022 law not to “repeal” the earlier ban. Abortions are now banned in these states. See where the laws have changed. But the three appellate judges said Planned Parenthood’s lawyers had “demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success” for their legal challenge against the stricter bans. “Arizona courts have a responsibility to try to harmonize all relevant statutes of this state,” Eckerstrom wrote in a one-page order, adding that “the pressing need [health care] providers, law enforcement agencies and the public for legal clarity” the order had prompted. The stay brings “temporary respite to Arizonans,” Planned Parenthood Arizona President and CEO Brittany Fonteno said in a statement. “Planned Parenthood Arizona is committed to standing up for reproductive freedom for all and continuing this fight until this 150-year-old law is permanently removed from the books,” she said. A spokeswoman for Brnovich, Brittni Thomason, said in a statement that his office “understands that this is an emotional issue and we will carefully review the court’s decision before determining the next step.” An appeals court ruling on the 19th-century bans could still be appealed to the Arizona Supreme Court. Arizona’s GOP raised record money with misleading comments on election audit Reproductive rights have been in flux in many states since June, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which established a national right to abortion in 1973. The reversal returned that decision to Congress and the states, though it has occasionally led to legal chaos. Several states did not update their abortion laws afterward Roemeaning there may be conflicting regulations on the books. In Arizona, Brnovich and abortion rights activists recently asked the state legislature to hold a special session to address the confusion, the Arizona Republic reported. In Ohio — another state where reproductive rights have been curtailed since the reversal Roe — A judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction banning six-week abortions while a constitutional challenge is heard, citing individual liberty. The procedure is now allowed up to the 22nd week of pregnancy.
