ACOG Condemns Decision on Archaic Arizona Abortion Ban

The following is a statement from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists:

The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision today to allow an archaic, punitive, and dangerous abortion ban passed more than a century ago to stand will have devastating consequences for pregnant people in the state.

This decision represents another crushing blow to the human right to reproductive health care and is another example of legislative interference in the practice of medicine. Nothing should come between a patient and their trusted clinician – certainly not a law that was passed 160 years ago and that does not reflect the values or the needs of patients and the doctors who provide them with health care.

Especially egregious to this ban is the threat of felony for aiding or providing abortion care, which will undoubtedly discourage patients from seeking needed reproductive health care, worsening patient outcomes, and deter many clinicians from providing this care.

Arizona’s abortion ban was passed in the 1860s, long before many Americans could even vote. We urge people to learn the facts when it comes to abortion as a part of comprehensive reproductive health care.