Arizona court ruling makes nearly all abortions illegal in a presidential battleground state

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona Supreme Court decision on Tuesday that will end virtually all abortions in the state puts the issue front and center in a battleground state that will play a crucial role in deciding the next president and the Senate majority.

Democrats immediately pounced on the ruling, blaming former President Donald Trump for the loss of abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court, reshaped by his three appointments, ended the national right to abortion and allowed laws like Arizona's, which was first passed in 1864.

“Today’s decision to reimpose a law from a time when Arizona wasn’t a state, the Civil War was raging, and women couldn’t even vote will go down in history as a stain on our state,” Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement. She pledged that prosecutors in her office would not enforce it.

Gov. Katie Hobbs, also a Democrat, said the ruling “only serves to create more chaos for women and doctors in our state," pointing blame at Republicans for a “never-ending assault on our basic rights.”