Dear ARMS Patients,

The recent Supreme Court ruling reversing Roe v. Wade has caused many patients to have concerns about how this ruling might affect them.

Though I have not yet seen any direct legal opinions to give clear guidance regarding Arizona Law and assisted reproduction treatments, I can provide for your review excerpts from the applicable Arizona Laws in this area. There are several laws but they all seem to refer to title 36 when it comes to definitions. Specific definition statements guide how law is applied. Here are the definitions of “Abortion” and “Pregnancy.”

Title 36, Chapter 20. Abortion

Article 1. General Provisions

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-2151. Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. “Abortion” means the use of any means to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will cause, with reasonable likelihood, the death of the unborn child. Abortion does not include birth control devices, oral contraceptives used to inhibit or prevent ovulation, conception, or the implantation of a fertilized ovum in the uterus or the use of any means to save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child, to preserve the life or health of the child after a live birth, to terminate an ectopic pregnancy or to remove a dead fetus.
2. “Pregnant” or “pregnancy” means a female reproductive condition of having a developing unborn child in the body and that begins with conception.

I hope that this brings some clarity. Below are links to the Arizona laws I am aware of dealing with this issue:

• Code 1928
• Article 13-3603.02. Abortion; sex and race selection; etc.
• Article 36-2151. Definitions
• Senate Bill 1164
• Senate Bill 1457

This notice will be updated as I become aware of any information that brings more clarity to this situation.

Sincerely, Dr. Drew Moffitt