Governor signs bill that bans most abortions after 15 weeks

Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill into law Wednesday that acts as a near-total ban on abortions in the state after 15 weeks.

The Arizona law makes an exception for medical emergencies and requires physicians to file a report with the Arizona Department of Health Services if an abortion is performed after 15 weeks. There is no exception for cases of rape and incest.

The legislation, which cleared the state legislature last week, also makes it a felony for physicians to knowingly violate the new statute, but the measure says that no criminal punishment can be directed toward the maternal patient. Physicians also could face consequences such as having their license to practice medicine in the state suspended or revoked, along with fines if they are found to have given false information on forms related to the abortion.

“In Arizona, we know there is immeasurable value in every life — including preborn life,” Ducey said in a letter Wednesday. “I believe it is each state's responsibility to protect them.”

Arizona Senate Democrats previously condemned the bill, saying, “the anti-choice, anti-freedom agenda behind these extreme bans is out of touch with the will of the overwhelming majority of Americans who support the right to abortion.”

Arizona is one of several GOPled states, along with West Virginia and Florida, that has advanced a 15week abortion ban bill this year. The U.S. Supreme Court, meanwhile, appears poised to uphold a similar Mississippi law that bars abortion after 15 weeks.

The fate of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, also hangs in the balance.