The Arizona Senate on Feb. 15 approved legislation that would ban abortions after 15 weeks.
Under the measure, if enacted, doctors who carry out an abortion after 15 weeks could potentially face a year in prison and have their medical licenses revoked.
Text of the proposed legislation reads: “Except in a medical emergency, a physician may not intentionally or knowingly perform, induce or attempt to perform or induce an abortion if the probable gestational age of the unborn human being has been determined to be greater than fifteen weeks.”
The measure doesn’t have any exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
“The state has an obligation to protect life, and that is what this bill is about,” Barto said during the debate, The Associated Press reported. “A 15-week-old baby in the womb has a fully formed nose, lips, eyelids, they suck their thumbs. They feel pain. That’s what this bill is about.”
Democrats argued the measure is unconstitutional under Roe v. Wade. The 1973 ruling prohibited states from banning abortions prior to when the fetus is considered “viable”—that is, potentially able to live outside its mother’s womb—deemed at the time usually around the second trimester of pregnancy at 24 weeks.
Barto said she hopes the court will overturn Roe v. Wade.
“A ruling in that case is expected in June. This measure makes Arizona ready to enforce that law if and when that decision is made,” Barto said, Tucson.com reported.
State Sen. Martin Quezada (D-Glendale) said that by counting on that ruling, senators are simply acting to attract a lawsuit against the state, the outlet reported.
“Arizona politicians are banking on the Supreme Court upholding Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban so they can quickly strip Arizonians of their rights and begin enforcement,” she said.
