Arizona restarts abortion services as courts probe laws

Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Abortion services returned to Arizona Thursday after a state appeals court stayed an 1864 law banning nearly all abortion and an agreement between Planned Parenthood Arizona and Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich was hammered out.

Brittany Fonteno, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Arizona, said the organization would resume abortion services in the state, during a press conference on Thursday.

"This is truly a pivotal moment for Arizonans who are now living in a post-Roe world," she said. "We have to be really clear and make no mistake that this is temporary. Abortion is temporarily legal in Arizona."

The announcement restarts services in Planned Parenthood locations in Tempe, Glendale and Flagstaff.

Planned Parenthood's Tucson location had already resumed abortion services after an Arizona appeals court issued a stay of the state's territory-era abortion law until a full appeal of the organization's challenge could be heard.

Abortion providers had ended services following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision this summer, ending a constitutional right to an abortion, and turning over the issue to individual states. The validity of the 1864 ban, which was passed before Arizona became a state, and a more recent 15-week ban, are working their way through the courts.

On Thursday, Brnovich reached a deal with parties in another Maricopa County lawsuit, providing legal assurance that the abortion law would not be put into action until Planned Parenthood's appeal was completed.

"Abortion is temporarily legal in Arizona, Fonteno said. "This does not mean the fight is over. This means we are continuing to fight every day. We won't stop fighting for our patients."

Anti-abortion groups also gathered at abortion clinics on Thursday following the news.

"It's important that we are our here to pray, and to witness, and to offer people hope who are often in situations that are desperate," said Mike Phelan with the Diocese of Phoenix. "I'm a retired social worker so I'm here to offer help to people. There is help that many women don't know."

Ellen Sweeney, co-leader of 40 Days for Life Phoenix, said she was concerned about the constant shifting sand for the public around the abortion issue in Arizona.

"We're essentially going to get a whiplash here with the court cases and the injunctions," Sweeney said