Arizona court rules abortion doctors can't be prosecuted

Abortion rights activist protests during a rally in Arizona on July 4. Photo: Sandy Huffaker / AFP via Getty ImagesThe Arizona Court of Appeals issued a ruling Friday saying abortion doctors can't be prosecuted under an 1864 law that criminalizes nearly all abortions. Driving the news: But the court declined to repeal the pre-statehood law, which has been barred from being enforced for nearly 50 years. Doctors can't be charged for performing the procedure because of other state laws allowing the procedure. "The statutes, read together, make clear that physicians are permitted to perform abortions" as regulated by existing abortion laws, the ruling states.