An anti-abortion law written more than 150 years ago goes into effect in Arizona

A protest in defense of abortion in Phoenix, Arizona, last June. Ross D. Franklin (AP)

As of this Friday, Arizona has one of the most restrictive laws against abortion in the United States.

Nearly three months after Roe v. Wade fell, a local judge has lifted a half-century injunction that blocked a rule written in 1864. This law, before Arizona became a state, allows for a sentence of imprisonment of between two and five years to anyone who performs or facilitates the termination of pregnancy.

Arizona, a Republican state, thus joins a trend in conservative regions that have taken advantage of the Supreme Court ruling to tighten restrictions on abortion or ban it altogether.

Planned Parenthood, an organization for the defense of reproductive rights, has reported this afternoon that their lawyers are evaluating the next steps they will take,

The ruling forces, for the time being, to close the abortion clinics in the State, with seven million inhabitants.

Otherwise, the medical and nursing staff would be in danger of being criminally prosecuted by the rule, included in the Howell Code, which was adopted by the first Legislature of the entity, 158 years ago.

Legislators have revalidated it on several occasions, the last one in 1977. But the criminal prosecution of people had been prevented thanks to the legalization of abortion, protected in Roe v. Wade.

Arizona also had a secondary law, also from the 19th century, that sent women who had abortions to prison for a year.

This was repealed last year.

It is not known exactly how many women it affected.

The entry into force of a rule prior to the invention of the telephone has been a triumph for the republican authorities of the State, which will hold elections next November.

“We applaud the court for the decision that maintains the will of the Legislative power and that gives clarity to such an important matter,” local prosecutor Mark Brnovich said on Friday.

"I will continue to protect Arizona's most vulnerable citizens," he added in a statement.

Last month, Brnovich's attorneys argued before Pima County Superior Court Judge Kellie Johnson that after Roe v. Wade's fall, there were no elements to keep in place an injunction that blocked the 150-plus standard from years will come into force.

Planned Parenthood was struggling to maintain the status quo.

Johnson has agreed with the prosecutor this afternoon, but she has opened the door for legislators to develop a more modern standard.

“While there are legal issues that the parties seek to resolve regarding the abortion statutes, those issues should not be resolved by this court,” Johnson wrote in her ruling.

Johnson's decision comes a day before a rule signed in March by Gov. Doug Ducey banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy goes into effect.

In Wisconsin, clinics have also ground to a halt over a lack of certainty after debate over whether an 1849 rule could lead to criminal charges against female doctors and nurses.

Georgia prohibits abortion once the fetus's heartbeat is heard, and Florida and Utah have taken advantage of the fall of the historic sentence to prohibit abortion from the 15th and 18th week, respectively.

The women who defend reproductive rights in Arizona have limited themselves to remembering on social networks that in 19 days the electoral ballots will begin to arrive at homes, a call to repudiate the judicial decision at the polls.