Photo: YASIN OZTURK/AA/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
The White House condemned “the potentially catastrophic, dangerous and unacceptable consequences ” of a court ruling in Arizona that reactivated a 19th century legislation that almost totally prohibits abortion.
“If this decision is upheld, health care providers will face prison sentences of up to five years for doing their duty; survivors of rape and incest will be forced to give birth to their attackers’ children and women with medical conditions will face serious health risks,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Arizona Pima County Judge Kellie Johnson issued the 15 in September, a ruling that caused a stir in the United States, where access to voluntary termination of pregnancy – always a politically hot topic – is on the center of the campaign for the November legislative elections. The ruling came as part of a case seeking clarification after the US Supreme Court struck down abortion rights at the federal level in June, leaving the decision on the matter up to the states.
The ban on 1864 in Arizona – which allows termination of pregnancy only when a woman’s life is in danger – had been blocked by court order since 1973, when the high court first admitted the right to abortion in the case Roe v. Wade. The judge considered that, after the June decision of the Supreme Court, the right in the matter should be returned to what it was before 1973.
The Pima County ruling was celebrated by the Arizona Attorney General, Republican Mark Bernovich. “We applaud the Court for upholding the will of the legislature and providing clarity and uniformity on this important issue,” he said in a statement.
The Johnson’s ruling came a day before the ban on abortions after the week went into effect 15 of pregnancy, passed by the Arizona legislature, but Johnson’s decision sparked outrage from reproductive service providers. The ruling “has the practical and deplorable result of setting Arizona back almost 150 years” , assured Brittany Fonteno, president of Planned Parenthood Arizona, in a release. “No archaic law should dictate our reproductive freedom,” she added.
Several US states have implemented full or partial abortion bans after the decision of the Supreme Court. The Democratic Party, led by President Joe Biden, hopes to mobilize voters to defend access to abortion at the polls, during the mid-term elections of November 8, which will partially renew the Senate and completely renew the House of Representatives.