'Immeasurable value': Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signs bill outlawing abortions in most cases after 15 weeks

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday signed a bill banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy in almost every circumstance, a contingency plan to limit the procedure as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on what could be a precedent-altering case.

In signing the bill, Ducey continues an unbroken record enacting every abortion restriction that has landed on his desk in his eight years in office.

“In Arizona, we know there is immeasurable value in every life — including preborn life,” the Republican governor, who is Catholic, wrote in a letter announcing the bill signing. “I believe it is each state's responsibility to protect them.”

Republican lawmakers passed the bill through the legislature without the support of any Democrats, who raised concerns the prohibition does not include any exemptions for victims of rape or incest, among other objections.

Bill sponsor Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, said the bill protects from "the horrors of abortion."

"We won't stop fighting until every preborn child is protected, but this is a step in the right direction," Barto said in a statement.

More: After Roe? Pro- and anti-abortion rights groups face new landscape in 2022 midterms – and beyond

Arizona's latest abortion law includes limited exceptions for medical emergencies, including life-threatening conditions and those that "create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function."

Doctors who perform the procedure after 15 weeks would be subject to prosecution for a Class 6 felony, the lowest level of felony crime, and face revocation or suspension of their medical licenses. Women who obtain an abortion would be immune from prosecution.

The new law is expected to prevent hundreds of abortions in the state each year.

In 2020, 636 women obtained abortions in Arizona after 15 weeks of pregnancy, according to state Department of Health Services records. Over 12,500 women sought abortions prior to 15 weeks, the records show.

Bill part of anti-abortion strategy

The vetting in the Arizona Legislature largely followed well-worn arguments in the abortion debate. Conservatives levied emotional arguments about a fetus' development and the state's duty to protect life. Meanwhile critics said the ban would further existing racial disparities in health care access and amounted to a government intrusion into personal medical decisions.

The 15-week ban was part of Arizona Republicans' strategy to chip away at abortion access with a pivotal case in the hands of the nation's highest court. The court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, could reverse precedent that guaranteed a right to an abortion over the past nearly 50 years.

Before the high court is a Mississippi case that bans abortions after 15 weeks. Arizona's bill was modeled after that legislation, a strategy proponents say will mean it can withstand a legal challenge, though lawsuits are still likely.

At least three other states have introduced similar legislation this year, but Arizona became the first of those to put the ban into law.

More: Texas Supreme Court rules against abortion providers, closing 'last back door' to block six-week ban

“Gov. Doug Ducey now has the shameful distinction of signing the nation’s first 15-week ban on abortion into law this legislative session," NARAL Pro-Choice America Southwest Regional Director Caroline Mello Roberson said in a statement.

She warned the case before the nation's highest court that could overturn Roe v. Wade would "open the floodgates to a barrage of dangerous legislation that gives politicians more power and control over our lives."

Like most other bills, the provisions of the abortion ban go into effect 90 days after the end of the Arizona legislative session, which is likely months away.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Abortion ban after 15 weeks in most cases signed by Arizona Gov. Ducey

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