Arizona's new abortion law could force mothers to give birth to stillborns and babies with fatal defects, which critics say is immoral and illegal

Arizona's severe new abortion law is set to go into effect this week, thanks to a federal judge who ruled it constitutional.

The law, signed by Republican Gov. Jan Brewer earlier this year, forbids doctors from aborting fetuses with a gestational age of 20 weeks or older, which is before the 23- to 24-week milestone when a doctor can confirm that a pregnancy will likely not result in a miscarriage, a stillborn, or an infant who will die soon after being born.

That means some women could have to give birth to stillborn babies.

The law has been assailed by abortion-rights advocates and civil-rights groups, who say it violates Supreme Court precedent and will cause wanton emotional damage to mothers.

Here, a guide to what has been described as the "most extreme" abortion ban in America: