Federal judge blocks Arizona’s ‘personhood’ abortion law

By BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge is blocking a 2021 Arizona “personhood” law that gives all legal rights to unborn children. Abortion providers were worried the law can lead to criminal charges like assault or child abuse and allege it is unconstitutionally vague. Judge Douglas Rayes on Monday said that is exactly the case, since the law could invite a host of criminal or civil charges but there’s no way to know which ones. A lawyer for the Arizona attorney general’s office told him at a June 8 hearing that the law does not create new crimes. All abortions in Arizona stopped last month after the U.S. Supreme Court said women do not have a constitutional right to abortion because of other laws, but they could restart in at least one county.