By Stuart Smith
Impunity Watch, North America Desk

 WASHINGTON, United States- On July 12, 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, and the Center for Reproductive Rights filed suit on behalf of three Arizona doctors to challenge the constitutionality of the state’s 20-week abortion ban.

Although six states have implemented similar abortion bans, according to the ACLU, Arizona’s ban is the most extreme ban in the nation. The law criminalizes nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and contains only one narrow exception for immediate medical emergencies.

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, reported MSNBC, legalized abortions nationwide but also allowed states to ban abortions once the fetus became viable – when a fetus could potentially survive outside the womb – except where a risk to the mother’s health existed. According to the Mayo Clinic, a fetus may become viable at 23 weeks of pregnancy.

Arizona’s abortion ban, argues the ACLU, scheduled to take effect August 2, 2012, therefore, bans abortions three weeks before a fetus becomes viable – during a time when the Supreme Court has specifically permitted abortions – and the ban is thus unconstitutional.

The ban would require a physician caring for a woman with a high-risk pregnancy to wait until her condition imposes an imminent risk of death or major medical damage before offering her the care she needs, noted the ACLU in a statement released the day of the lawsuit’s filing.

“Any number of things can happen during a pregnancy, and a woman has to be able to make the right decision for herself and her family,” said Talcott Camp, the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project’s deputy director. “Whether a woman decides to continue with a high-risk pregnancy or terminate it, the most important thing is that women, families and physicians make these decisions – not politicians without any medical training.”

Although the lawsuit is believed to be the first to challenge late-term abortion bans, it comes amidst a broader attack on abortion and reproductive rights in the United States.

On Wednesday, CNN reported, that a federal judge in Mississippi allowed the state’s sole abortion clinic to remain open, while he reviews the effects on abortion clinics of a new state law requiring all abortion providers to be certified obstetrician/gynecologists with privileges at local hospitals. Only one doctor at the clinic currently meets the new standard.

Although supporters of the new law claim that it protects women from unscrupulous and unqualified practitioners, opponents believe the law is a move to further curtail abortion rights in the state. Governor Phil Bryant called it “the first step in a movement, I believe, to do what we campaigned on: to say that we’re going to try to end abortion in Mississippi.”

However, for now, the ACLU is optimistic about their chances of success in court. “No court has ever upheld such an extreme and dangerous abortion ban,” said Dan Pochoda, legal director of the ACLU of Arizona. “Instead of passing unconstitutional laws and blocking women’s access to critical health services, our legislators should be working to ensure that all women get the care they need to have healthy pregnancies and protect their families.”

For further information, please see:

ACLU — Isaacson v. Horne Complaint — 12 July 2012

MSNBC — Rights groups file suit challenging Arizona abortion ban — 12 July 2012

ACLU — Women’s Health Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Arizona Abortion Ban — 12 July 2012

CNN — Judge lets Mississippi’s only abortion clinic stay open – for now — 11 July 2012

Mayo Clinic website — Pregnancy week by week — 23 July 2011