Governor Katie Hobbs has rebuffed a request from a bipartisan majority of Arizona’s 15 elected County Attorneys to rescind her recent Executive Order that seeks to strip each county’s top prosecutor of their ability to review abortion-related cases.
Hobbs announced on Friday that she had sent a letter to Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell standing by her Executive Order.
Twelve county attorneys signed the July 3 letter expressing their opposition to Executive Order 2023-11.
“I issued this Order, in an effort to provide consistency—and assurance to patients, providers, and the people of Arizona—on a critical issue of personal freedom and well-being,” said Hobbs in a press release. “The Order was not motivated by any desire to interfere with the discretion of prosecutors in fulfilling their duties. Instead, it was a lawful exercise of gubernatorial discretion to ensure equal protection and equal access to reproductive healthcare statewide.”
However, Hobbs unilaterally granted that authority to fellow Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Hobbs claims she has the authority to issue the Executive Order, “expressly granted through A.R.S. § 41-193(A)(2). That includes:
Using executive authority to centralize all abortion-related prosecutions under the Attorney General to ensure differences in the application of the law by county attorneys do not restrict access to legal abortions.
Directing state agencies not to assist in any investigations relating to providing, assisting, seeking or obtaining reproductive health care that would be legal in Arizona.
Declining extradition requests from other states seeking to prosecute individuals who provide, assist, seek or receive abortion services legal in Arizona moving forward.
The establishment of the Governor’s Advisory Council on Protecting Reproductive Freedom to make recommendations that expand access to reproductive healthcare in Arizona.”
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Bipartisan Group Of Arizona’s County Attorneys Call On Hobbs To Rescind Executive Order
The county attorneys have not yet responded to Hobbs’ latest move.