Live reaction across the state

A near-total abortion ban adopted before Arizona became a state was allowed to go into effect Friday by a Pima County Superior Court judge.

The law mandates two to five years in prison for anyone who provides an abortion or the means for an abortion. The only exception is to save the life of the mother. This is the law as it remains on the books at ARS 13-3603:

“A person who provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman, unless it is necessary to save her life, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two years nor more than five years.”

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sought a determination on the law after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in his June decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case in Mississippi.

Follow coverage of reaction to the judge’s ruling on Arizona’s abortion law by Republic reporters here.

8:05 pm: Anger, frustration in Tucson

Protesters gather on Sept. 23, 2022, after a Pima County Superior Court judge ruled a law banning abortion could go into effect.

Protesters gathered in front of the Pima County Superior Courthouse in Tucson on Friday evening.

With megaphones, they chanted: “Abortion rights are human rights.” Anger and frustration were apparent.

“I’m appalled that our courts are trying to institute laws that were written before the railroad arrived in my town,” said Briggs Clinco. “This is some medieval action that is happening against human beings’ bodies. It’s a violation of civil rights and basic health care.”

Amy Fitch-Heacock, a spokesperson for Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom, called the ruling “absolutely abhorrent.”

“We are going back to a law that predates statehood and predates women’s right to vote even,” Fitch-Heacock said. “It’s scary, and it’s going to lead to deaths.”

She said she wasn’t surprised by the ruling.

“We’ve seen over and over again that Arizona judges play a political game,” she said. “This is less about justice and more about politics.”

And she expects a prolonged fight.

“I think this is going to drag out in the courts for months, and during that time pregnant people are less safe in Arizona,” Fitch-Heacock said.

— Sarah Lapidus

7:30 pm: Protesters gather in Flagstaff

Debra Block, one of the organizers of Flagstaff’s protest, tearfully described feeling devastated when she learned of the ruling.

“It’s just unbelievable. Women couldn’t even vote. We weren’t even a state,” she said. “What’s wrong with these people?”

Block said she started fighting for abortion rights as a teenager. It gives her hope that a younger generation of women is keeping up the fight, she said, but she also feels sorry for them.

“Look at these young women,” she said, pointing to the line of young protesters who had gathered with their signs alongside her outside of Flagstaff City Hall.

“What if they got pregnant and weren’t ready to have a kid?” she wondered before outlining obstacles that would now stand in her way.

Reagan Warner is a California native who moved to Flagstaff to attend Northern Arizona University. Adjusting to the new reality of living under very different laws when it comes to women’s rights motivated her to support abortion rights and come out to the protest, she said.

“Knowing that even in the case of an assault you have no right to your autonomy, even if you’re not from here,” Warner said.

With Warner was fellow NAU student Katherine Crawford.

“It just makes me sick to know that a law created in 1864 … still controlling our rights to health care,” Crawford said. “It’s literally bringing us back to the Civil War era.”

— Lacey Latch

7:15 pm: Protest planned for Saturday evening in Phoenix

Elsa Landeros, a reproductive rights activist, stood outside the state Capitol on Friday evening and urged roughly two dozen people to return at 5 pm Saturday to protest the ruling.

Landeros asked those gathered Friday to share the news about Saturday’s protest and encouraged reproductive rights organizations to participate.

— Perry Vandell

7 pm: Sen. Sinema looking for ‘commonsense proposals’

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said on Twitter she’s willing to work with “anyone to advance commonsense proposals ensuring women in Arizona and across the country can access the health care they need and have the ability to make their own decisions about their futures.”

“Arizona women should not be forced to travel out of state for health care services, and Arizona doctors should not be criminalized for caring for women in need,” Sinema said.

— Steve Kilar

6:30 pm: Arizona Senate Democrats express anger

Arizona Senate Democratic Leadership blamed Republicans and expressed anger over Friday’s ruling:

“This ruling is the outcome of a decades-long attack on women, reproductive health, and individual liberty. The Republican party that has delivered this blow to millions of Arizonans knows exactly the kind of hell they were crafting. This will kill women, break apart families, and trap so many into generational cycles of abuse and poverty. It is hateful and disgusting,” said the Senate Democratic Leadership in a statement. “No healthcare decision should be decided by the government.”

— Steve Kilar

6:15 pm: Ruling’s political consequences

The ruling is likely to exacerbate the political consequences of the Dobbs decision in Arizona.

Supporters of reproductive rights rallied against that decision, and Democratic candidates have sharpened their messaging on the issue with the midterm election approaching, emphasizing Republicans’ preference to restrict abortion or ban it entirely.

— Ray Stern and Stacey Barchenger

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