Judge Frank Moskowitz has overturned Arizona's 15-week abortion ban, 'permanently' blocking lawmakers from ever enforcing it, after residents voted to enshrine abortion 'rights' in the state constitution last November.
(LifeSiteNews) -- Arizona has permanently blocked a 15-week abortion ban from taking effect, just months after residents voted to enshrine abortion "rights" in the state constitution.
On Wednesday, March 5, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Frank Moskowitz granted a motion from abortion advocates to overturn the Arizona's 15-week abortion ban as unconstitutional, blocking lawmakers from ever enforcing the ban.
"Defendant, 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 provisions of A.R.S [the 15-week abortion ban]," Moskowitz ruled.
Previously, Arizona law protected life in the womb by banning abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, arguing that the law stands in the way of a mother’s “fundamental right” to kill her baby before birth.
The 15-week ban was one of many state laws nationwide that automatically went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, with the Arizona Legislature having passed the law months beforehand.
However, abortion activists, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood, were quick to attack the legislation.
Unfortunately, Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes refused to enforce the 15-week ban while the lawsuit went through the courts, according to a statement made by her spokesperson.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, abortion is now legally available in Arizona until “fetal viability,” a vague term with a loose definition that is often up to interpretation by the physician or doctor performing the abortion.
The decision to remove protections for unborn babies comes just a few months after Arizona residents voted to add abortion “rights” into their state constitution.
The constitutional amendment, Proposition 139, passed in Arizona this election cycle with a jarring 61.6 percent of the vote – only 38.4 percent of Arizona voters chose to vote against the amendment.
Earlier, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, asserted that the law protecting babies after 15 weeks should be removed.
“Arizonans made it clear that they support reproductive freedom, and there is no question that a ban … should be removed from our laws,” she said in December, adding that she is “glad Arizonans are working to finish the job.”
