On Friday, June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade, which was the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that established a constitutional right to abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that each individual state is allowed to make its own laws concerning abortion. Before Roe v. Wade, Arizona had already made its own law prohibiting abortion back in 1901. This territorial law criminalized assisting a woman in obtaining an abortion, unless necessary to save her life. Specifically, the 1901 Arizona law states that:
A person who provides, supplies or administers to a pregnant woman, or procures such woman to take any medicine, drugs or substance, or uses or employs any instrument or other means whatever, with intent thereby to procure the miscarriage of such woman, unless it is necessary to save her life, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for not less than two years nor more than five years.
A.R.S. § 13-3603 (emphasis added).
However, after the Roe v. Wade ruling, an injunction was issued that prohibited the enforcement of the 1901 abortion law. This injunction has yet to be lifted. Regardless, another law passed this year in Arizona banning abortion after 15 weeks except in cases of medical emergency with no exceptions for rape or incest. If physicians are prosecuted under this new law, they would be charged with a class six felony and could have their licenses suspended or revoked. A pregnant woman on whom an abortion is performed, inducted, or attempted may not be prosecuted for conspiracy. This new law is expected to take effect 90 days after the Arizona Legislature adjourned last Saturday, which means it would go into effect on September 23, 2022. The new law does not criminalize women for traveling to other states where the procedure remains legal in order to obtain an abortion.
It is unclear how, if, and when prosecutors will begin charging abortion case submittals, and what the possible punishments will be. Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said if a case is submitted, her office will review it to determine if there is a “reasonable likelihood of conviction.” According to a press release issued by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on June 24, 2022, he “applauded the Supreme Court of the United States for correcting a nearly fifty-year-old wrongly decided SCOTUS decision and returning the issue of abortion back to the states.” If prosecutors enforce the new law which categorizes the performance of an abortion a class six felony, the possible punishment for a first-time offender convicted of a class six felony can include imprisonment for a period of .33 to 2 years OR up to three years of probation with the possibility of up to a year in jail as a term of probation. This differs from the punishment outlined in the territorial law requiring a sentence of 2 to 5 years in prison.
Navigating the criminal justice system and the new Arizona laws after the Roe v. Wade reversal can be scary and overwhelming without the proper guidance. The attorneys at Castillo Law offer free consultations and can be reached at 480-206-5204 via telephonic or text messaging communication.