Judge rules Arizona can enforce near-total abortion ban

Arizona can enforce a near-total ban on abortions that has been blocked for nearly 50 years, a judge ruled Friday, meaning clinics statewide will have to stop providing the procedures to avoid the filing of criminal charges against doctors and other medical workers.

The judge lifted a decades-old injunction that has long blocked enforcement of the law, on the books since before Arizona became a state, that bans nearly all abortions. The only exemption is if the woman's life is in jeopardy.

The ruling means people seeking abortions will have to go to another state to obtain one. An appeal of the ruling is likely.