Planned Parenthood in Flagstaff resumes offering abortion care

Planned Parenthood Arizona is resuming abortion services in Flagstaff for the first time since 2022, despite the state’s newly reinstated 1864 abortion ban set to go into effect soon.

The organization’s Flagstaff clinic is taking appointments for medication abortion, which is a way of ending a pregnancy through mifepristone and misoprostol, also known as abortion pills. It does not require surgery.

Flagstaff has been an abortion desert—meaning no abortion services have been available there—since the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022. That decision eliminated the federal right to an abortion.

“For far too long there has been an abortion care desert in northern Arizona, and patients I have cared for at our more central health care locations have confided in me they drove several hours to their appointment to get the care they needed,” Dr. Jill Gibson, chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood Arizona said in a press release.

READ MORE: A Flagstaff activist and mother is helping bring abortion access to northern AZ

On April 9, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the state’s 1864 abortion law, which only has an exception to save the life of the mother, is the law of the land.

It is unclear when exactly this ban will go into effect. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that the Civil War-era law cannot be enforced until 14 days after the ruling. According to the Arizona Republic, an agreement from a separate lawsuit says the state cannot enforce the ban for an additional 45 days—which would mean enforcement couldn’t begin until around early June.

The law states that anyone who “provides, supplies, or administers” an abortion can be sentenced to prison for two to five years.

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Medication abortion appointments can be booked at Planned Parenthood Arizona’s Flagstaff Health Center by calling 602-277-7526.