The Twelve Weeks That Banned Abortion in Arizona

Let’s All Party Like It’s 1864

The Arizona Supreme Court just upheld a Draconian ban on abortions by simply reading the calendar. The Court cited numerous cases and salted its opinion with logical, historical, and legal analysis, but it all comes down to the calendar.

Sometimes, timing is everything.

The fundamental issue in the case was simple: whether two laws passed in Arizona to regulate abortion could exist simultaneously. The Draconian ban first passed in 1864 was the only law left standing. A newer law, which allowed abortions up to 15 weeks of gestation, was struck down.