April 18, 2024
PHOENIX (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday allowed enforcement of a 2021 Arizona law that lets prosecutors bring felony charges against doctors who knowingly terminate pregnancies solely because the fetuses have a genetic abnormality such as Down syndrome.
The decision comes in the wake of the high court's June 24 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. It has no immediate effect because Arizona providers stopped all abortions following last Friday's Supreme Court ruling.
Providers stopped performing abortions immediately because they were worried about a pre-statehood law making it a crime to perform an abortion or assist in any way, unless the life of the mother is threatened. It was unclear if that law could be enforced, but Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich said Wednesday that it can be.
In Thursday's genetic abnormality ruling, the Supreme Court sent the case back to the federal judge in Phoenix who had blocked it last September. U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes said in his ruling that the law’s criminal provisions were likely unconstitutionally vague, explaining it’s unclear at what point in the process doctors can be deemed to be aware that fetal genetic abnormality exists.
When the law was being debated last year, Republican state Sen. Nancy Barto said children with Down syndrome and other genetic abnormalities deserve to be protected and can live “productive, wonderful lives.”
“There are incredible numbers of people that appreciate those children that have come into the world with a genetic abnormality like Down (syndrome) or other serious issues that are genetic,” said Barto, a Phoenix Republican who sponsored the bill.
“And once they were born, they’ve meant so much to their families, to the world. They’ve gone on to live productive, wonderful lives. That’s what we’re protecting here.”
