Abortion

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Greg Como said he doesn't believe that top Republican lawmakers who are defending the laws challenged by the doctors missed a deadline for filing paperwork. And the judge said that even if they did, it did not harm the challengers.

Attorney General Kris Mayes will not defend the legality of abortion restrictions on the books in Arizona being challenged in the wake of enactment of Proposition 139.

Several groups and individuals are going to court to strike down several abortion restrictions, asking a judge to rule that the laws are now unconstitutional after Arizona voters approved Proposition 139.

With the state's 15-week abortion law now overturned, Planned Parenthood is now deciding what restrictions that remain on the procedure to next target in court.

Republican lawmakers are advancing what could be a head-on challenge to the options women have under the newly approved constitutional amendment guaranteeing a fundamental right to terminate a pregnancy.

Voters in Arizona overwhelmingly supported and approved Proposition 139 last week, which enshrines abortion rights into the state's constitution.

Early returns show proposition 139 was being approved by a margin of 2-1.If enacted, women would be able to terminate a pregnancy without state interference until the point of fetal viability. That is generally considered somewhere between 22 and 24 weeks.

Arizonans will be able to vote whether they want to put a right to abortion in the state constitution.In an order late Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court rejected arguments by Arizona Right to Life that a description of the key provisions in Proposition 139 which was attached to petitions misled people into signing it. The group argued that it was legally flawed because it failed to detail the impact that its approval would have on all existing abortion laws or regulations.

The Arizona Supreme Court has agreed to delay enforcement of its decision upholding the 1864 abortion ban until Sept. 23, virtually guaranteeing its ruling will never take effect in the state.

Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick has taken himself off the case of whether the Legislative Council -- a panel that includes his wife, Shawnna -- acted improperly in using the words "unborn human being'' in a description of an abortion ballot measure.