Governor Hobbs, county attorneys at odds over abortion executive order

(The Center Square) – County attorneys in Arizona are at odds with Gov. Katie Hobbs over a recent Executive Order on abortion.

The governor’s June 23 order turns the power over from top law enforcement officials at the county level to Democrat Attorney General Kris Mayes when it comes to “abortion-related prosecutions.” This comes a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and returned most of the decision-making on abortion back to the states.

“In the year since the Dobbs decision, we have seen that anti-abortion extremists will stop at nothing in their attempts to impose their radical beliefs on the rest of the country,” Mayes said in a press release on June 26.

But 12 different county attorneys across the state dubbed it a “substantial overreach” in a letter to the governor asking her to rescind the action.

“Executive Order 2023-11 sets a dangerous precedent and suggests that any Arizona governor can order the attorney general to assume all duties related to an entire category of criminal prosecution and, by consequence, prohibit local prosecutors from acting,” the July 3 letter signed by both Republicans and Democrat attorneys stated.

However, the governor’s communications director, Christian Slater, insisted that they have no plans to rescind the order.

“We will not rescind this order. Governor Hobbs will continue to use her lawful executive authority to put sanity over chaos and protect everyday Arizonans from extremists who are threatening to prosecute women and doctors over reproductive healthcare,” Slater tweeted Monday night.

Abortion is currently legal in Arizona for the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.