At Arizona abortion clinics, chaos and confusion after court ruling on 1864 ban
Category: News & Politics
Via: perrie-halpern • 3 weeks ago • 42 commentsBy: Alicia Victoria Lozano and Aria Bendix
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
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.
Health care providers in Arizona said they spent much of the day on Tuesday answering questions from patients and trying to assuage fears that their abortion appointments would be canceled.
At the Planned Parenthood clinic in Tempe, Dr. Jill Gibson, chief medical director of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said uncertainty about when the ruling would go into effect triggered anxiety among patients.
"That chaos and confusion that we're seeing is what I'm having to explain to patients," she said Tuesday. "Patients are coming and they are already asking, because they've seen the news, if their appointment would be upheld today."
Angela Florez, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, told reporters on Tuesday that the organization's clinics in the state would continue providing abortion services "for a very short period of time." Then it will work with neighboring states, including California, to help people cross state lines if needed to obtain an abortion, she said.
"There really is no way to sugarcoat it. Today is a dark day for Arizona," Florez said.
The Los Angeles County public health department said in a statement that it is committed to working with health providers, advocates and businesses to welcome people seeking abortions who cannot obtain them in their home state.
Taylor said the frantic pace of the day felt like "deja vu," given its similarity to the day in 2022 when then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed a law limiting abortions in the state to 15 weeks' gestation. Before that, Taylor's clinic had been performing abortions through the second trimester.
The 2022 law prompted Taylor to change her clinic's scheduling system to ensure a short turnaround between consultations and abortions.
Taylor added that the looming ban jeopardizes the future of her small clinic.
"We are a mom and pop clinic — there is a relationship and a reverence that is mutual" between staff and patients, she said. "We are located in a place that is very diverse, low income and medically underserved. They depend on us."
Dr. Ronald Yunis, of the Acacia Women's Center in Phoenix, said his clinic plans to continue performing abortions "until the attorneys say it can't be done."
"We have primarily Spanish-speaking patients. They are going to be harmed massively," he said. "It's a war on the most vulnerable."
Many questions remain about the future of abortion access in Arizona.
Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, called on the state's GOP-controlled Legislature to repeal the 1864 law.
"We know for the next 45 days that the 15-week ban that Arizona has is in place, but after that, without further action from the court, this total ban will be the law of Arizona," Hobbs told MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell on Tuesday. "I hope the Legislature does the right thing and does what I've called on them to do and repeals this ban, because we're already seeing the level of confusion and chaos this is causing."
Democrats in the Arizona House attempted to introduce a repeal of the 1864 ban on Wednesday but were stymied by Republicans.
Meanwhile, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, said Tuesday that no woman or doctor would be prosecuted for an abortion as long as she remains in office.
"Though I have said I will not prosecute anyone under this draconian law, we obviously know that it's going to have a chilling effect" on abortion access, Mayes told MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Tuesday.
Hobbs signed an executive order last year conferring authority over abortion-related prosecutions to the state attorney general's office.
A coalition of reproductive rights organizations in Arizona said this month that it had gathered enough petition signatures to put an abortion-related constitutional amendment on the November ballot. That means voters are likely to decide whether to establish abortion as a fundamental right in Arizona until fetal viability — which would effectively reverse the 1864 ban.
"We've already collected well over 500,000 signatures, and we don't plan to slow down one bit because Arizonans across the political spectrum believe in reproductive freedom," Chris Love, a spokesperson for the group, called Arizona for Abortion Access, said Tuesday at a news conference. "We believe patients, in consultation with our medical providers and families, have the right to control our own health care. And we are eager to prove it once and for all at the ballot box in November."
However, opponents of abortion rights lauded the state Supreme Court's ruling.
"We celebrate this enormous victory for unborn children and their mothers. Reinstating Arizona's pro-life law will protect more than 11,000 babies annually at all stages of pregnancy while providing an exception for the life of the mother," Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a nonprofit that seeks to end abortion in the U.S., said in a statement.
However, some prominent Arizona Republicans issued statements opposing the ruling and former President Donald Trump said the Arizona court had gone too far.
Amid the confusion, Maricopa County AttorneyRachel Mitchell sought to clarify that under Arizona law, women who get an abortion won't be prosecuted. The state Supreme Court ruling "does not change that," she said in a statement.
Both Arizona's current 15-week abortion policy and the 1864 law still on the books pertain to people who administer or provide abortions, not to patients undergoing a procedure.
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This is a ridiculous legal strategy and a worse position on a very real issue.
Every time i think the ultra conservatives cannot do anything more stupid ---- they do
Hopefully, the worst ones will hopefully be voted out.
Trump said "They went too far."
And let the fun begin. Are the left going to come and support Arizona because "Trump lies" or are they going to side with common sense?
I think they are going to tell the American people that Trump didn't mean it.
Like they are even remotely reliable.
I doubt they realize how obvious they are.
He said that this time, after finding out how opposed the majority is to abortion bans. That is not what he said previously.
You mean RESTRICTIONS which the media characterized as BANS.
Yup, that is why he took the air out of the democrat balloon.
No I mean RESTRICTIONS which is just right wing speak for BANS.
What state bans abortion?
Abortion law state map: See where abortions are legal or banned | CNN
14 on this list
9 states with total bans no exceptions.
Indiana Supreme Court allowed ban and denies a rehearing.
States like FL invoke a 6 week rule , weeks before most women realize they are pregnant or missed a period.
Those states are shameful.
Did the citizens of those states vote for their representatives?
Did you vote for Biden?
do those elected officials represent the majority of their citizens, or do they represent a special interest group?
We have to assume they do. Otherwise, how could the abortion issue have had such influence on the 2022 midterms?
Elections have consequences.
Consequences cause backslash
I'm hoping for a huge backlash!
The backlash against MAGA overreach...
In Arizona, they are legal with a gestational limit of 6 to 8 weeks.
Unintended consequences for Some people.
And you will probably see one, for Women's Rights.
That's nice if the woman wakes up the next morning and knows she is pregnant./s
Six weeks to 8 weeks is effectively a ban for no legal or logical reason.
By the time she runs the gauntlet ( if she decides to get an abortion ) she is probably out of time before she begins the process.
We should be, at this late date in the experiment of democracy, trusting of our citizens regardless of gender to decide what is right for their personal healthcare without state or religious interference.
If American women can't make these decisions about their lives maybe we should roll back time and refuse to let them to drive or vote anymore.
They are either equal under the eyes of the law or they are not.
We let them inject silicone and implants and weight loss drugs for sexual reasons
but not control their own biological clock?
SMH
I'm thrilled christo-fascist scum chose women's equality as the hill they want to die on. I'm looking forward to reading and watching all the creative eye for an eye revenge and retaliation against thumper extremists.
But, but, but, but according to some - there are many states with no restrictions whatsoever. . . which is where these women AND CHILDREN will have to go. No problem, right?
On the 'right', it's usually the latter.
There will be, at the ballot box.
A blue wave.
We're still waiting on all those red waves
I just stated a fact, not a opinion either way. Take it whatever way you want as it makes no difference to me.
careful what you wish for...
[deleted]
There is still too much liability for clinics and drs to proceed after the 45 day stay. Yesterday Dems and some Republicans tried to call for floor debate on a repeal, but were shut down when they called for lunch and later again recessed for the rest of the week.
They weren't even a state until 1912, why would this nonsense be constitutional?
Ben Toma, American Christian Taliban.
ben tova ...
mike hunt
not even close to being a Christian...
Yesterday the AZ GoP controlled House again killed voting on a repeal. Only 1 Republican voted with Democrats to bring a repeal bill to the floor for a vote. Toma keeps talking about some version of Republican voter initiative - it might be 14 weeks it might be 6 OR it might be a totally ban he doesn't know just yet. They have little time to formulate one and get enough signatures submitted to make the fall ballot.
I told you the gop intended on persecuting women and doctors for having or performing terminations and on putting them in prison...
Maybe I am prescient.
in 1861 the ''Shootout at the OK corral'' took place in Tombstone, Arizona Territory. Probably a decent idea to settle this abortion issue at the Corral once again.
freedom for all or freedom for none. I'll be painting church doors if a nationwide ban gets passed.
If you ever visit Tombstone, you’ll see that the gunfight actually took place in an empty lot 6 doors down from the rear entrance to the corral. Hollywood caused the confusion with the 57 movie.
Yep. I was raised 45 minutes South of Tombstone and the great majority of folks that were raised and live around here know that already. It's even taught in schools.