The US Supreme Court has rejected Arizona’s attempt to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
The decision does not disturb most of the similar prohibitions that other states have on the books.
The US justices on Monday declined to reconsider a lower court ruling that says the law violates a woman’s US constitutionally protected right to terminate a pregnancy before a fetus is able to survive outside the womb.
VIABILITY
“Viability” of a fetus is generally considered to start at 24 weeks. Normal pregnancies run about 40 weeks.
Governor Jan Brewer signed the ban into law in April 2012. Nine other states have enacted similar rules that ban abortions that from 20 weeks or even earlier.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals last year said such bans violate a long string of Supreme Court rulings starting with the landmark Roe v Wade decision in 1973.
OTHER STATES
However, most other states’ 20-week bans have not been challenged in court, and the 9th Circuit’s ruling is binding only in its nine-state territory, which also includes Idaho.
Other states with 20-week bans include Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Texas.
KANSAS’ DIFFERENCE
The Kansas ban technically starts at 22 weeks, but the state starts counting the time of conception from an earlier mark.
Supporters of the Arizona ban argued that it protected women’s health and prevented fetuses from experiencing pain. Whether fetuses can feel pain before viability is disputed.
Supporters of the Arizona ban expressed disappointment, frustration and determination.
FIGHT NOT OVER
“Often it takes multiple times before the US Supreme Court will take an issue,” said Cathi Herod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy.
“This fight is far, far from over,” she added.
Other states’ bans generally have not been challenged because there were no abortion practitioners whose services would be affected and who were willing to fight the issue in court, said Janet Crepps, a lawyer for the Center for Reproductive Rights.
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