Ariz. 20-Week Ban is Unconstitutional, Slate Opinion Piece Argues

November 6, 2012 — In a Slate opinion piece about a challenge to Arizona’s 20-week abortion ban, Emily Bazelon writes, "When in a pregnancy can a state ban abortion? For years, the answer has been clear: after viability."

Bazelon outlines reasons why the court will "probably" strike down the Arizona law, including that it "defies the spirit of Roe v. Wade and the letter of Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the Supreme Court's 1992 affirmation of the core of Roe, which allows the state to regulate abortion before viability but to bar it only after that threshold has passed." Nonetheless, the case is a "reminder ... of the impact of the wave of state restrictions on abortion that have passed since Republican electoral gains in 2010, and of how the ground will shift under women's feet if the courts let these [laws stand]" (Bazelon, Slate, 11/5).