Arizona Supreme Court grants temporary 90-day stay of 1864 abortion ban

The Arizona Supreme Court granted a 90-day stay on the enforcement of the state's 1864 near total ban on abortion Monday, which could mean that the controversial abortion law never goes into effect.

Arizona's Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs signed a repeal of the Civil War-era ban last month, after both state houses successfully repealed the law. But the repeal does not go into effect until 90 days after the state legislature wraps up its current session, and the ban would have gone into effect on June 27 at its earliest. When the repeal goes into effect, a 15-week ban on abortion will take its place.

The new ruling will delay the 1864 ban until Aug. 12, according to Arizona Attorney General Kris Hayes. The 90-day stay also combines with different court case that has a 45-day delay, which pushes the date back to Sept. 26.

"I am grateful that the Arizona Supreme Court has stayed enforcement of the 1864 law and granted our motion to stay the mandate in this case for another 90 days," Mays said in a statement. "I continue to believe this case was wrongly decided, and there are issues that merit additional judicial review. I will do everything I can to ensure that doctors can provide medical care for their patients according to their best judgment, not the beliefs of the men elected to the territorial legislature 160 years ago."

Mayes said that her office will be using the temporary stay to consider the best legal course of action to take next, including possibly taking the matter to the United States Supreme Court.

When the repeal does go into effect, the 15-week ban on abortion will be the new law, which prohibits all abortions after that point except to save the life of the mother. Some critics claim however, that the new ban should allow abortions after 15 weeks in cases of rape and incest.