Civil War-Era Law Upheld to Ban Abortion in Arizona

The Arizona Supreme Court has decided to uphold a Civil War-era law that bans abortion. A law on the books from 1864 is enforceable, according to Arizona judges. The year in which that law was passed, 1864, was before human chattel slavery was outlawed, and almost 50 years before Arizona was officially part of the United States. The law makes abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison. But the ban may be overturned at the polls in November. The 1864 law goes back into effect in 14 days.