Arizona's brutal 1864 abortion ban isn't dead yet. AG Kris Mayes must finish it off

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is overjoyed that the Legislature repealed what she called “this insane 1864 abortion ban,” but she is not celebrating.

Not yet.

Because the brutally arcane law isn’t dead yet, and it has fallen to Mayes to finish it off.

The repeal of the abortion ban did not include an emergency clause to immediately go into effect. Instead, the repeal as it stands doesn’t become law until 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, which could mean months and months of 21st century women’s reproductive health being determined by a 19th century law.

Or, as Mayes told ABC 15’s Kati Raml, “We’re not out of the woods yet.”

Will Mayes' cautious optimism pay off in court?

Mayes’ office is asking the Arizona Supreme Court to grant a 90-day stay to keep the old law from taking effect, saying, “There’s no reason for the Supreme Court to allow this chaos to happen in our state.”

True.

Then again, there was no reason for the court to allow the old law to kick back in to begin with … but that is another story.

House Republicans say: 1864 is the new 2024 on abortion

Likewise, this wouldn’t be an issue if the Legislature had just included the emergency clause in the repeal bill. But that, too, is another story.

For now, it’s up the the state Supreme Court. And Mayes is cautiously optimistic.

She said of the court, “At least they didn’t reject my motion outright, and so the advocates of the 1864 law will be given a chance to say why it should stay in place, and then obviously I have filed for a motion to say I want 90 days to be able to potentially appeal this case to the United States Supreme Court.”

Just because what Mayes is asking makes sense does not guarantee the court will agree.

“If they don’t,” Mayes said, “we will, we will look at every legal avenue available to us to stop this 1864 ban from ever going into place in the state of Arizona. There’s just too much at stake.”

Reach Montini at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona's brutal, arcane 1864 abortion ban may be stopped by AG Mayes