Arizona Revised Statutes

Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-2321 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section AZ-LEGazleg.gov (official) JustiaTitle on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

36-2321. Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Abortion" has the same meaning prescribed in section 36-2151.

2. "Attempt to perform or induce an abortion" means to do or to omit doing anything that, under the circumstances as the physician believes them to be, is an act or omission that constitutes a substantial step in a course of conduct planned to culminate in the performance or induction of an abortion in violation of this article.

3. "Department" means the department of health services.

4. "Gestational age" or "probable gestational age" means the age of an unborn human being as calculated from the first day of the last menstrual period of the pregnant woman.

5. "Human being" means an individual member of the species homo sapiens, from and after the point of conception.

6. "Major bodily function" includes functions of the immune system, normal cell growth, and digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine and reproductive functions.

7. "Medical emergency" means a condition that, on the basis of the physician's good faith clinical judgment, so complicates the medical condition of a pregnant woman as to necessitate the immediate abortion of her pregnancy to avert her death or for which a delay will create serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.

8. "Physician" means a person who is licensed pursuant to title 32, chapter 13 or 17.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 3 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 2022–2025 · leading case: Arizona for Abortion Access v. Montenegro (Ariz. 2025).
Planned Parenthood v. Kristin mayes/hazelrigg (Ariz. 2024). · cites it 3× “” § 36-2321(6). 31 PLANNED PARENTHOOD V. KRISTIN MAYES/HAZELRIGG VICE CHIEF JUSTICE TIMMER, joined by CHIEF JUSTICE BRUTINEL, Dissenting greater than fifteen weeks “[e]xcept in a medical emergency.”
Arizona for Abortion Access v. Montenegro (Ariz. 2025). · cites it 3× “” A.R.S. § 36-2321(5). ¶36 The Analysis contains the precise terminology—“unborn human being”—that is used in § 36-2322’s declaration about when a physician may not perform an abortion under existing statutory law (i.”
Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc. v. Mark Brnovich (Ariz. Ct. App. 2022). · cites it 2× “§§ 36-2321 to 36-2326 (the 15-week law), which places requirements on abortion services by licensed physicians up to fifteen weeks, generally prohibits the abortion of any fetus with a gestational age of fifteen weeks or more, and creates reporting procedures for medically…”
— Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-2321(5) — 1 case
Arizona for Abortion Access v. Montenegro (Ariz. 2025). “” A.R.S. § 36-2321(5). ¶36 The Analysis contains the precise terminology—“unborn human being”—that is used in § 36-2322’s declaration about when a physician may not perform an abortion under existing statutory law (i.”
— Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-2321(6) — 1 case
Planned Parenthood v. Kristin mayes/hazelrigg (Ariz. 2024). “” § 36-2321(6). 31 PLANNED PARENTHOOD V. KRISTIN MAYES/HAZELRIGG VICE CHIEF JUSTICE TIMMER, joined by CHIEF JUSTICE BRUTINEL, Dissenting greater than fifteen weeks “[e]xcept in a medical emergency.”
— Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-2321(7) — 1 case
Planned Parenthood v. Kristin mayes/hazelrigg (Ariz. 2024). “” § 36-2321(6). 31 PLANNED PARENTHOOD V. KRISTIN MAYES/HAZELRIGG VICE CHIEF JUSTICE TIMMER, joined by CHIEF JUSTICE BRUTINEL, Dissenting greater than fifteen weeks “[e]xcept in a medical emergency.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.