Women’s Health Groups Ask Judge To Block Arizona Abortion Ban

Court Holds Hearing in Challenge Brought By American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Arizona, and Center for Reproductive Rights Against Most Extreme Ban in the Nation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org

PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona and the Center for Reproductive Rights will be in court today to ask a federal judge to preliminarily block an Arizona law that would criminalize virtually all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. The law also contains the narrowest possible exception for only immediate medical emergencies.

Under the law, a physician caring for a woman with a high-risk pregnancy would be forced to wait until her condition imposes an immediate threat of death or major medical damage before offering her the care she needs. The ban also contains no exceptions for a woman who receives the devastating diagnosis that the fetus will not survive after birth.

“This law robs women of their right to make their own serious medical decisions,” said Talcott Camp, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “Women should not be placed in harm’s way by laws created by politicians who have absolutely no medical experience.”

“Our elected officials should be passing laws that protect women and their families instead of depriving them of critical services,” said Dan Pochoda, legal director of the ACLU of Arizona. “This dangerous, overreaching law endangers women and should not be allowed to take effect.”

The Arizona Section of the American Congress of Obstetrics & Gynecology has criticized the ban as violating standard practice and interfering with the doctor-patient relationship in a way that is adverse to women’s health.

More information about this case can be found at: www.aclu.org/womens-rights/isaacson-v-horne