Arizona judge to hear state request to enforce abortion ban

By BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona judge is set to hear arguments on the state’s request to allow it to enforce a near-total ban on abortions under a law that has been blocked for nearly 50 years. Abortion-rights advocates are fighting the request from Republican Attorney General Mark Brnovich. He wants prosecutors to be able to charge doctors who provide abortions unless the mother’s life is in danger. That law was first enacted decades before Arizona was granted statehood in 1912 and blocked following the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. The nation’s high court overturned Roe in June and said women do not have a constitutional right to an abortion. A judge in Tucson will hear the Arizona case on Friday.