Arizona asks Supreme Court to allow law barring abortions for fetal abnormalities

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Arizona is calling on the Supreme Court to uphold a law in the state that bans abortions due to certain genetic abnormalities such as Down syndrome.

In an emergency request to the justices by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, the state is requesting that the court allow the law to resume after it was blocked by a federal judge in September.

"Every society will ultimately be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable," Brnovich said in a statement to Fox News. "I am proud to stand up for Arizona’s law protecting the unborn."

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich on Fox News. (Fox News)

SUPREME COURT LETS CHALLENGE TO TEXAS ABORTION LAW PROCEED, ALLOWS LAW TO REMAIN IN EFFECT

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed the measure into law in April, leading to several lawsuits across the state from pro-abortion activists and the Arizona Medical Association physicians group. The law prevents abortions from being performed, unless the matter is life-threatening, on fetuses with certain fetal abnormalities like Down syndrome or cystic fibrosis.

Brnovich – according to Reuters, which first reported the request – is asking the court to allow the provision to take effect while litigation continues on the appeal.

The Supreme Court building in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

The request comes as the Supreme Court weighs a number of abortion cases from across the country, most notably Texas and Mississippi.

On Friday, the court ruled that a lawsuit by abortion providers against Texas over its abortion law may proceed, despite arguments by Texas that the way the law was written made it so that parties could not sue until it had been enforced.

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An anti-abortion demonstrator protests in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Dec. 1, 2021. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

The high court is considering a completely separate challenge to a Mississippi abortion law that bans abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy, a ruling that is most likely to come next spring. That case could overturn the landmark abortion ruling Roe v. Wade.

Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this article.