Lorie Shaull CC BY 2.0 DEED, via Flickr; Screenshot / X, Vice President Kamala Harris, Cropped by Resist the Mainstream

The Arizona Supreme Court delivered a bombshell ruling on Tuesday declaring that a 160-year-old near-total abortion ban still legally applies in the state.

Pro-lifers quickly took to social media to bask in the movement’s latest win.

“God is pleased. Demons are enraged,” Ryan Visconti wrote on X.

Vice President Kamala Harris, however, weighed in on the ban saying  it will “apply to women before they even know they are pregnant.”

She also warned that it “threatens prison time for nurses and doctors.”

Harris then seemingly bashed the law for being outdated, highlighting it was established “before women could vote and before Arizona was even a state.”

“Understand: to stop a ban like this,” she added. “We need a United States Congress that will restore the protections of Roe V. Wade.”

“And when they do,” the VP continued. “President Joe Biden will sign it into law … It does not have to be this way.”

This decision effectively places Arizona among the increasing number of locations where access to abortion care is severely restricted.

NBC News reports that the ruling upholds an 1864 law in Arizona, making abortion a felony punishable by two to five years in prison for individuals who perform the procedure or assist a woman in obtaining one.

The law, originally codified in 1901 and reaffirmed in 1913, prohibits abortion from the moment of conception, with the sole exception being to save the woman's life. 

This Civil War-era statute, enacted half a century before Arizona achieved statehood, remained intact and unchallenged for decades.

Despite Harris’ message stressing pushback to the law, pro-lifers flocked online to send praise over the decision.

“This could save 11,000 Arizona children every year,” lamented activist Lila Rose. “An amazing win for human rights and children’s lives!

“What a win for LIFE!” remarked Jenna Ellis.

“Thousands of babies are going to be saved by this protection over their life. Praise Jesus!” wrote Dr. Abby Johnson.

The decision, which has the potential to close abortion clinics in the state, reverses a lower court's ruling that a newer 15-week ban from March 2022 took precedence over the 1864 law, NBC News reports.

The Arizona Supreme Court announced a 14-day hold on its decision, explaining that it would remand the case to a lower court. This move aims to allow the lower court to address “additional constitutional challenges” that have not yet been resolved.

Moments after the ruling Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat, declared that she would not enforce the law.

“Let me be completely clear, as long as I am Attorney General, no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law in this state,” Mayes said in a statement.

She also added that the decision was “unconscionable” and “an affront to freedom.”