Planned Parenthood of Arizona, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and individual healthcare professionals filed a federal lawsuit Thursday to remove a range of Arizona abortion restrictions.
The laws in question, which have been enacted over the course of years, most recently in 2018, prevent nurse practitioners from performing abortion procedures, require women to see visit a doctor twice at least 24 hours apart before obtaining an abortion, and ban prescriptions of abortion pills by telemedicine, among other regulations.
“Many parts of Arizona have become an abortion desert,” said Marc Hearron, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights. “We are asking the court to strike down these laws as unconstitutional because they impose an undue burden on women seeking abortions.”
The pro-abortion rights groups said that the laws disproportionately affect women in rural areas including those in Navajo, Hopi, and Apache tribal jurisdictions. Wait times for abortions in the state have risen.
Planned Parenthood Federation of America President Leana Wen called the laws “outdated” and “medically unnecessary.”
“I treat my patients based on science and evidence, and the science and evidence are clear — abortion is one of the safest medical procedures, and abortion care is part of the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare,” Wen said.
The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
Many states, including Utah and Kentucky, have faced lawsuits almost immediately after state legislatures passed restrictive abortion bills. Less than 24 hours after Kentucky announced a ban on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, the ACLU filed suit. Ohio’s state legislature is in the process of passing a similar bill. Gov. Mike DeWine has promised to sign the “heartbeat bill” into law, which would make it the strictest statewide ban in the country.
