The Democratic governor of Arizona on Thursday promulgated the repeal of the law dating from 1864 which prohibited almost all abortions and which had been deemed “applicable” by the Supreme Court of this state in the southwestern United States.
“I am proud to sign this text and provide a moment of relief to Arizonans,” said Katie Hobbs in a live video, making abortion legal again up to 15 weeks of pregnancy in this state of more than seven million inhabitants.
The law of 1864 prohibited any voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) from the moment of conception, unless the mother’s life was in danger.
Having remained dormant for decades, this law was considered “now applicable” on April 9 by the Arizona Supreme Court.
The right to abortion has emerged as a major issue in the presidential campaign in the United States. Arizona is among the swing states that could decide the final outcome.
Neither rape nor incest were considered valid exceptions, according to the 1864 law. The decision of the local supreme court sparked intense controversy in the country, being condemned by Joe Biden but also criticized in a more moderate way by Donald Trump.
The April 9 ruling of the Arizona Supreme Court took note of the reversal of jurisprudence of the United States Supreme Court which annulled in June 2022 the federal guarantee of the right to abortion.
Since this decision giving states full latitude to legislate in this area, around twenty have banned or severely restricted access to abortion.
The promoters of a popular initiative announced in April that they had collected the necessary signatures to obtain a referendum to include abortion in the Arizona Constitution. This vote should take place at the same time as the presidential election in November.
Outgoing Democratic President Joe Biden is making the defense of women’s rights a major focus of his campaign for a second term, facing his Republican opponent Donald Trump.
The latter prides himself on having, through his appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States, resulted in the cancellation of federal protection for abortion in June 2022, but insists on the electoral risks of an overly conservative position on the question.