The 1864 legislation passed before Arizona was a state, but the court ruled to lift the stay on the law, which includes a narrow exception for “when it is necessary” to save a person’s life.
The law goes into effect in 14 days. Those convicted under the legislation would face two to five years in prison.
The Arizona high court handed down the ruling a day after former President Donald Trump posted a video to Truth Social signaling he is backing away from the issue of abortion as he seeks another term in the White House.
“This 50-year battle over Roe v. Wade took it out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds and vote of the people in each state,” Trump said in the statement. “It was really something. Now it’s up to the states to do the right thing.”
Trump played a major role in the ongoing discourse around the issue, having appointed conservative anti-abortion justices to the Supreme Court during his term. Those appointees made up three of the five votes to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022.
It’s that decision which has since leaked into rulings on other reproductive health policies, such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF).
Abortion has also been a winning issue for Democrats following the ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Even the Arizona ruling will return to the ballot in November, allowing voters to choose if they’d like to remove the restriction.
The former president’s views on abortion — which were already unpopular among Democratic voters — now earn him criticism from former allies, GOP lawmakers and strategists.
Trump’s refusal to back a national abortion ban has put him at odds with former Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.)
“President Trump’s retreat on the Right to Life is a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted for him in 2016 and 2020,” Pence said in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
Graham said leaving the issue entirely to states “runs contrary to an American consensus that would limit late-term abortions,” in a statement responding to Trump’s remarks.
