A poster held up at a news conference at the state Capitol in Phoenix, Ariz. advocates for the repeal of the state’s remaining anti-abortion laws on Jan. 22, 2025. Arizona voters in 2024 approved Proposition 139, which enshrined the procedure as a constitutional right, but voiding the state’s existing anti-abortion laws must be done either piecemeal through lawsuits or by the legislature. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror
Doctors and women now have the final say about when an abortion should be performed, after a Maricopa County Superior Court judge struck down the state’s 15-week ban following last year’s vote to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona Constitution.
Two local OB-GYNs and the Arizona chapter of Planned Parenthood took the state to court over the ban late last year. The trio argued that the 2022 law, which prohibited abortions after its gestational deadline unless a patient was facing death or the impairment of a major bodily function, should be struck down because voters in November overwhelmingly decided to make the procedure a fundamental right via Proposition 139.
Judge Frank Moskowitz agreed, writing in a two-page ruling that the 15-week law is instantly nullified and no one will ever be able to carry out its punishments. The law threatened doctors who violated it with up to two years in prison.
“(The state of Arizona), its respective agents, officers, employees, successors, and all persons acting in concert with each or any of them are hereby immediately and permanently and forever enjoined and restrained from implementing, enforcing, or giving any effect to (the 2022 law),” reads Moskowitz’s order.
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The 15-week ban directly conflicted with Prop. 139, because the voter-approved constitutional provisions explicitly allow abortions to be performed to the point of fetal viability, generally regarded to be around 23 to 24 weeks. It also includes a carveout for abortions beyond that point if a doctor deems one is necessary to preserve a patient’s life, physical or mental health.
Abortion rights advocates celebrated the ruling, which has been long-awaited and represents the first win in tearing down Arizona’s many hostile abortion laws. More than two dozen anti-abortion laws remain on the books, including laws that mandate a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed and forbid the use of telehealth to prescribe the abortion pill. Each of those will likely need to be individually challenged in court.
Dr. Paul Isaacson, one of the OB-GYNs involved in the lawsuit and the co-owner of a private abortion clinic in the Phoenix area, said the ruling restores his ability to offer his patients critical care without worrying about being criminalized for it.
“For nearly three years, my hands were tied because of this cruel ban,” he said in a written statement. “It is a relief to no longer have to turn away patients from essential health care.”
Scottsdale OB-GYN Dr. Eric Reuss, who was the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, added that the ruling rightfully removes politicians from the hospital room and keeps patients safe as a result.
“I’ve seen firsthand how our state’s abortion ban has harmed my patients, with countless lives and futures changed because politicians thought their views of the right health care was more important than pregnant people and their medical providers,” he said. “What we owe Arizonans is top-quality health care, full stop — not forcing them to wait for severe pregnancy complications to get worse before they can get care.”
Following the fall of Roe v. Wade, Arizona grappled with a near-total abortion ban from 1864 and the 15-week gestational ban for nearly three years. The constant threat of criminalization paralyzed the state’s reproductive health care community.. Most clinics alternated between shutting their doors and providing intermittent or limited services while abortion rights groups took the fight to the courts, leaving women seeking to terminate unwanted or dangerous pregnancies with little recourse. At least one doctor at Planned Parenthood Arizona, the state’s largest provider of abortions, abandoned the state rather than deal with the consequences of politicians getting involved in medical care.
But since the passage of Prop. 139 and a December legal agreement that Arizona wouldn’t enforce the 15-week ban while litigation against it continued, many doctors, including at local Planned Parenthood clinics, resumed providing abortions beyond the gestational limit.
Dr. Misha Pangasa, one of Planned Parenthood Arizona’s physicians, applauded the move to align Arizona’s laws with the wishes of voters, and celebrated the ability of her organization to continue operating without fear.
“This is a huge moment for Arizonans, who voted to enshrine abortion access in the state constitution by passing Proposition 139 to stop the government from interfering in people’s health decisions,” she said. “We at Planned Parenthood Arizona have been fighting tirelessly for the health and rights of our patients and we are proud to now be serving our community by providing abortion care beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy.”
Some state leaders also weighed in on the news. Attorney General Kris Mayes, who has mobilized her office to join lawsuits protecting the right to abortion access and was a vocal supporter of the bid to eliminate the 15-week law, also upheld Prop. 139 as the reason women today can count on restored abortion access.
“The judge’s ruling reaffirms what Arizonans made clear when they passed Prop 139: the right to make personal medical decisions belongs to individuals, not politicians,” she wrote in a post on social media site X, formerly Twitter. “This is a victory for freedom, privacy, and the will of the voters.”
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