Arizona’s Abortion Ban Tees Up Legal Battle Over Ballot Measure

The Arizona Supreme Court ruling this week reestablishing a Civil War-era abortion law shifts the fight for abortion rights in the state to a pending initiative on the ballot this fall, an effort that could ultimately face its own legal challenges.

Organizers behind a proposed constitutional amendment in Arizona to establish a “fundamental right” to abortion before viability—roughly 24 weeks of pregnancy—say the proposal is more pivotal than ever after the state’s top court ruled April 9 that an 1864 law criminalizing nearly all abortions could take effect. That law, which makes aiding or performing most abortions a felony ...