In an executive order she signed last week, Gov. Katie Hobbs informed county prosecutors they cannot enforce the abortion law because she is “centralizing authority” for abortion-related prosecutions. That authority now falls in the hands of the Attorney General’s Office, which is currently and conveniently occupied by a pro-abortion Democrat, Kris Mayes.
Cathi Herrod of the Center for Arizona Policy tells AFN the state law gives the attorney general the authority to “aid” county attorneys in enforcing the law. The law literally states “aid,” she says.
“Aid does not mean to supplant, prohibit, stop,” Herrod complains. “Yet that is what the Governor is trying to do.”
In an audacious statement, Gov. Hobbs said the state attorney general should have the authority to interpret and apply the state law so county prosecutors cannot “chill, deter, or restrict access to lawful abortion care.”
Countering that statement, Herrod says the Arizona governor is illegally overruling county-level prosecutors who are elected by the public to prosecute people who violate state law.
“It's a dereliction of duty if the county attorney does not do what they were elected to do,” Herrod argues, “and the Governor cannot prevent county attorneys from carrying out their duties under the law.”
Yet she is doing exactly that, with the stroke of a pen, and now county attorneys who realize their governor stripped legal authority from them are researching their options to fight back. State legislatures are also getting involved.
If anybody is wondering how Attorney General Mayes feels about the executive order, he praised the Governor and bashed “extremists” – meaning pro-life Arizonans – who want to “impose their radical beliefs on the rest of the country.”
