Arizona 15-Week Abortion Ban Declared Unconstitutional, Blocked

Arizona can’t enforce its ban on abortions after 15 weeks’ gestation because it violates the state constitution, a trial judge said Wednesday in a brief order permanently blocking it.

Planned Parenthood Arizona Inc. and two physicians asked the Arizona Superior Court, Maricopa County, in December 2024 to declare the ban unconstitutional. The provision violated an amendment recently approved by the state’s voters that established a fundamental right to end a previability pregnancy, they said.

Judge Frank Moskowitz granted their request.

The ban, which has limited exceptions, took effect in September 2022 after the US Supreme Court declared in Dobbs v. ...