JUST IN: Biden White House Blasts Reinstatement of 19th-Century Near-Total Abortion Ban in Arizona
Anna Moneymaker, Getty
The Biden administration tore into a court decision that reinstates a near-total ban on abortion that was originally enacted in 1864.
Arizona had already passed a 15-week ban similar to the national ban being proposed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. But on the eve of that ban taking effect, Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson lifted a Roe-era injunction blocking the much stricter 19th-century law:
The stricter ban, which can be traced to 1864, was blocked by a court injunction in 1973 shortly after the Supreme Court, in Roe v. Wade, determined that there was a constitutional right to abortion.
On Friday, Judge Kellie Johnson of Pima County Superior Court lifted that injunction, noting that Roe had been overruled in June and that Planned Parenthood’s request for the court to “harmonize the laws” in Arizona was flawed.
The 1864 law, first established by the state’s territorial legislature, mandates a two- to five-year prison sentence for anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion. In 1901, the state updated and codified the law.
In a statement sent to Mediaite Saturday morning, the White House blasted the decision:
Statement from Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Arizona’s Court Decision
Yesterday’s ruling in Arizona is dangerous and will set Arizona women back more than a century – to a time before Arizona was even a state. If this decision stands, health care providers would face imprisonment of up to five years for fulfilling their duty of care; survivors of rape and incest would be forced to bear the children of their assaulters; and women with medical conditions would face dire health risks. While we await next steps on any implementation of the law, the potential consequences of this ruling are catastrophic, dangerous, and unacceptable. Make no mistake: this backwards decision exemplifies the disturbing trend across the country of Republican officials at the local and national level dead-set on stripping women of their rights, including through Senator Graham’s proposed national abortion ban. The contrast between the President and his focus on moving the country forward and Republican officials’ obsession with taking our country backwards could not be more stark. The President and Vice President will continue to push Congress to codify Roe to protect women’s access to abortion and health care.
President Biden has consistently spoken out against the Supreme Court decision that struck down Roe.
