Arizona's attorney general asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to allow a Republican-sponsored abortion law to go into effect, which bans abortions performed due to fetal genetic conditions such as Down syndrome or other abnormalities.
Mark Brnovich filed the emergency request to Justice Elena Kagan, who handles such requests arising from the state, petitioning to block a September ruling by a federal judge in Arizona who determined the recently enacted measure should be put on hold.
Abortion advocates and the Arizona Medical Association physician's group were among the challengers to the law known as S.B. 1457 after Republican Gov. Doug Ducey signed the measure in April.
The law bans abortions performed “solely because of a genetic abnormality of the child," such as cystic fibrosis or Down syndrome, unless a specific abnormality is considered lethal.
"Every society will ultimately be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable," Brnovich tweeted Tuesday. "I am proud to stand up for Arizona’s law protecting the unborn."
Brnovich asked the Supreme Court to allow the law to go into effect while litigation plays out in lower courts, according to Reuters.
The attorney general's request comes as the 6-3 conservative majority on the highest court appear poised to issue a landmark ruling over a case involving a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi, which could potentially overturn the historic precedent of a woman's right to elective abortions under the 1973 Roe v. Wade case.
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Separately, justices ruled on Friday to allow a six-week abortion ban to remain in effect in Texas while providing some leeway for challenges to the state's law to be brought to federal court.
The Washington Examiner contacted Brnovich's office but did not receive a response.