Arizona Supreme Court scheduled to hear arguments on abortion law

The Arizona Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday on whether the pre-statehood abortion ban of 1864 — which would prohibit abortions at any stage of pregnancy — should apply.

Before Arizona was a state, it had a ban on abortion that was overridden by the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which established a nationwide right to abortion. Just before Roe was undone last year, lawmakers passed a separate ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

There’s been confusion and litigation over which law applies. Currently, abortions are available during the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, based on a court ruling last year that said doctors can’t be prosecuted for providing abortions during this time frame.

Meanwhile, Arizona abortion rights supporters are pushing to get a ballot question before voters next year that would undo both bans.

Advocates in other states are attempting to put similar questions on the ballot following the success of such a measure in Ohio last month.

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