After nearly two years, Planned Parenthood Arizona resumed medication abortion services at the Flagstaff location Monday.
It's the first time Planned Parenthood has provided the procedure in northern Arizona since 2022. Many providers stopped offering any form of abortions then due to legal uncertainty after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
The return of the service in Flagstaff comes nearly a week after the Arizona Supreme Court issued a ruling that allows the enforcement of a Civil War-era near-total ban on abortion.
It’s still legal, though, and accessible in the state for 45 days before the ban officially goes into effect.
Planned Parenthood Arizona said in a statement they intend to provide abortions until “the last possible legal moment.”
"We know that it is now more important than ever to provide care to as many patients as we can, while abortion is still legal in Arizona, and we are swiftly expanding our services to meet the increasing needs of our community," Planned Parenthood Arizona CEO and President Angela Florez said in a statement. "We will not be intimidated or silenced by anti-abortion extremists, because we know the overwhelming majority of Arizonans support the right to abortion."
Northern Arizona has historically been an abortion desert with patients having to travel hundreds of miles to access care.
Most abortions have been prohibited on tribal lands for decades. A 1977 provision banned the use of federal funds for the procedure, which includes the federal Indian Health Service.
