Abortion

Arizona Abortion Legislation Goes Into Effect

An injunction on laws passed in 2009 has now been lifted.

It will now be more difficult for women in the state of Arizona to obtain legal abortions, as the courts have now lifted an injunction on earlier abortion laws that had been on hold for two years.

Via Talking Points Memo:

A three-member panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court judge was wrong in halting provisions of the controversial law, which includes a mandate that women seeking abortions receive in-person counseling by a doctor at least 24 hours in advance.

The law, challenged in court by Planned Parenthood Arizona, also required minors to present a notarized statement from parents before undergoing an abortion and mandated that only physicians be allowed to perform the procedure.

Another statute of the Abortion Consent Act allowed health professionals to refuse to participate in abortions if they had moral or religious objections.

“We hold that the statutes affected by the preliminary injunction are constitutional, and we therefore vacate the injunction in its entirety,” the appeals court wrote in a 44-page opinion

Other abortion legislation passed more recently, such as a ban on “telemed” abortions, has led to clinics that are facing being shut down, making a 24 hour wait period even more onerous for women.