Arizona attorney general ramps up abortion access fight

Kris Mayes created a unit in her office that will focus solely on reproductive rights, one of the cornerstones of her campaign and administration so far.

Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes launched a new unit focused on reproductive rights and abortion access, preparing her office for perhaps the most important fight of her administration. 

After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, states scrambled to figure out how that would change abortion access locally. Courts, and prosecutors, have a key role in figuring out how to interpret abortion laws anew. 

In Arizona, two competing laws would have far different effects: A recent law bans abortion after 15 weeks, while a pre-statehood ban made abortions entirely illegal. The courts have said the 15-week ban is the one Arizona must follow, though the appeals process isn’t over yet.

In the meantime, abortion providers here have struggled to keep their offices open. Patients have been confused over their legal rights, and some have gone across state lines to get care instead. Planned Parenthood started offering vasectomies after demand for the service increased because of abortion restrictions.

The conflicting legal landscape leaves room for the Attorney General’s Office to get involved, either to defend access to abortion in state cases or join up with other AGs on federal cases that affect all states.

Kris Mayes, Democratic candidate for Arizona Attorney General, speaks at a Women's March rally in support of midterm election candidates who support abortion rights outside the State Capitol on October 8, 2022 in Phoenix. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

So far, the unit is active in a half-dozen cases in Arizona and federal courts. And the office has hired Hayleigh Crawford, an attorney formerly with Osborn Maledon who has experience in appellate courts, to lead the new unit.

The new unit shows how a change in administration from a Republican AG to a Democrat can drastically alter the way certain issues, like abortion, get litigated by the public’s lawyers. Other states with Democratic AGs, like Oregon and Delaware, have stood up hotlines to offer the public help and guidance as they figure out how they can get abortion care.

For Mayes, the unit makes good on a campaign promise. While running for office, Mayes made clear she wouldn’t prosecute people who seek or perform abortions in Arizona.

“I do believe this is one of the reasons I am sitting here as attorney general,” Mayes told the Agenda. “I think the women of this state saw this ongoing attack on their rights and wanted an AG who would defend them and work for them.”

Two recent court rulings on mifepristone, a drug used in abortions, highlight ways the unit will operate. A federal judge in a Texas case suspended the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone, throwing access to the medicine into question throughout the country. Meanwhile, a federal judge in Washington State ruled the drug was safe and effective.

The dueling court rulings have attorneys general, the federal government and abortion rights advocates and foes scrambling. The Texas ruling isn’t set to go into effect until today, though various groups have intervened to try to stop it. 

One of those groups trying to stop the Texas ruling: Mayes’ office. 

The Arizona AG filed an amicus brief in the Texas case, siding with those seeking a stay on the ruling. The office previously joined the Washington case, alongside Democratic attorneys general from other states. 

Mayes has said that access to mifepristone will remain in Arizona because of her involvement in the Washington case. Providers here said they’re hopeful they’ll be able to continue using the drug, but have other options if they can’t.

Beyond the mifepristone cases, the AG’s Office has made key decisions on what state abortion laws it won’t defend. 

In an ongoing case from Planned Parenthood, Mayes opted not to appeal a ruling that set abortions as legal up to 15 weeks gestation instead of outright illegal. Her refusal to continue the case may not end it entirely, though. A doctor for a crisis pregnancy center is trying to get the Arizona Supreme Court to take the case up, and a county attorney wants to intervene in it in favor of the outright ban as well. The AG’s Office has opposed both of those efforts to revive the case.

Mayes also decided not to continue defending a lawsuit over a 2021 law banning abortions for genetic abnormalities, leaving the Arizona Legislature’s Republican leaders, House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen, to defend the law, with help from the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom.

Crawford, who’s leading the unit, said she’s regularly monitoring cases and regulatory actions throughout the country to “keep our finger on the pulse of what's happening so that, with the AG’s direction, we can act proactively to protect rights here in Arizona.”

In addition to Crawford, the unit will likely include attorneys from other parts of the AG’s Office, including people from the state government division, the civil rights unit and the criminal division. The unit intends to work proactively to protect abortion access while also reacting to and intervening in ongoing cases.

In Arizona, no county attorneys have tried to prosecute doctors over abortion since the 15-week ban was affirmed by the courts. The law allows for charges against those who perform abortions, but not those who get them. If and when a county attorney brings charges, Mayes said, her office will work to shut it down. Mayes has previously said her office will never prosecute anyone over abortion.

“We will vigorously oppose any effort by a county attorney to prosecute doctors, nurses, pharmacists, midwives or anyone for abortion care in the state of Arizona. We will absolutely fight that in court,” she said. “We're going to be making it clear to county attorneys that any attempt to prosecute these cases is inappropriate and will not go unanswered by this office.”

While Mayes believes the unit is necessary now to iron out the various legal battles caused by reverting abortion law back to the states, she thinks it could be obsolete in just a couple years. 

Ultimately, she said, Arizona voters will decide the issue at the ballot box in 2024, when advocates for abortion access expect to field a ballot measure that would enshrine some level of access into the state Constitution. 

“It will be great when the people of Arizona put Hayleigh (Crawford, the reproductive rights unit leader) out of business, when we no longer need a reproductive rights unit in the AG’s office,” Mayes said. “That will be a great day for the state of Arizona.”