Arizona’s top court allows near-total 1864 abortion ban to go into effect

The conservative-stacked court ruled 4-2 that the century-old law would be ‘enforceable’ within 14 days of the ruling.

In 1864, the territory of Arizona in the United States passed a law that criminalised nearly all abortions.

Arizona was not even a state at the time of the law’s passage. But now, 160 years later, its state Supreme Court has ruled the near-total ban can go into effect in 14 days.

The court’s decision on Tuesday triggers what would be one of the most restrictive state laws to govern abortion access in the US.

Writing for the majority in the four-to-two ruling, Judge John Lopez explained that Arizona’s legislature had never established a right to abortion access in the state.

“We defer, as we are constitutionally obligated to do, to the legislature’s judgement, which is accountable to, and thus reflects, the mutable will of our citizens,” he said.