Court Cases

Center Challenges Arizona Abortion Restrictions as Violations of Voter-Approved Constitutional Amendment

Isaacson v. Arizona
  • Case Status Active
  • Filed on
  • Last Updated
  • Issue
    • Abortion
  • Place
    • Arizona
    • United States

This case continues the Center’s efforts to bring state laws in line with new constitutional protections for abortion rights.

2022 The state of Arizona enacted a 15-week abortion ban.
2024 Arizonans voted to enshrine the right to abortion into the state constitution.

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Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. About the case
  3. Case details
  4. Timeline
  5. Legal documents
  6. Press release
Summary

Summary

In its second case brought under Arizona’s new voter-approved constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights, the Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit with its partners May 22 challenging three groups of laws encompassing dozens of statutes and regulations that remain in effect.

The Arizona Abortion Access Act, passed in 2024, enshrines the fundamental right to abortion in the state constitution and subjects any interference with that right to the highest level of constitutional scrutiny.

The state of Arizona is not defending the restrictions challenged in this case. Instead, Arizona state legislators have stepped in to defend them.

We are carrying out the will of the voters. The public and the constitution are aligned—now it’s time for the law to catch up.

Nancy Northup, CRR President and CEO
About the case

About the case

Brought on behalf of Arizona doctors, the case challenges restrictions including:

  • Laws banning abortion based on the patient’s reason for seeking the abortion, forcing doctors to turn away patients if they even suspect that a fetal genetic diagnosis is the reason for the patient seeking care.
  • Laws forcing providers to present patients with biased and inaccurate information about abortion in person and then requiring patients to wait at least 24 hours before obtaining abortion care. This requires two separate trips to the provider, delaying Arizonans’ ability to obtain constitutionally protected, time-sensitive care.  
  • A prohibition on providers’ use of telemedicine for medication abortion, including a ban on the mailing of abortion pills.

These laws violate the new constitutional amendment by:

  • Denying, restricting, and/or interfering with pregnant patients’ fundamental right to access abortion care before viability.
  • Penalizing providers for helping patients to exercise that right.

This latest lawsuit follows another Center win, striking down the state’s abortion ban.

In an earlier Center case in Arizona, in March a state judge permanently blocked Arizona’s 15-week abortion ban, declaring it unconstitutional under the same 2024 amendment. The ban had taken effect in 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated the federal constitutional right to abortion. 

Both cases align with the Center’s strategy of enforcing and expanding state constitutional protections for abortion rights.

Case details

Beyond targeting Arizona’s web of abortion restrictions, these cases aim to increase access to constitutionally protected care. These cases also aim to shape the broader interpretation of the new amendment to ensure Arizona follows through on its constitutional guarantees.

Gail Deady, CRR Senior Attorney
Timeline

News and updates

May 22, 2025
Center challenges Arizona abortion restrictions
Center files legal complaint against Arizona's restrictive abortion laws and requests a preliminary injunction to block the laws as case proceeds. Center challenges Arizona abortion restrictions
September 15, 2025
Motion to dismiss hearing
Court holds oral arguments on legislative intervenors' motion to dismiss Center's case.
September 23, 2025
Court denies motion to dismiss
Court denies legislative intervenors' motion to dismiss case, allowing Center's challenge to move forward.
November 5, 2025
Hearing on preliminary injunction request
Center plaintiffs and others testify in court about the harm caused by challenged laws restrictions.
November 13, 2025
Court consolidates preliminary injunction with merits
Court consolidates Center's request for a preliminary injunction with request for permanent relief.
January 12, 2026
Court hears closing arguments
Court to hear closing arguments in evidentiary hearing and consider whether to permanently block laws challenged by the Center.
Legal documents

Legal documents

Arizona – 2025 Full Complaint
Press release

Press release

Arizona Providers File Lawsuit to Expand Abortion Access

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