Pima County Attorney Laura Conover on today’s Planned Parenthood Arizona, Inc. v. Mark Brnovich decision

Tucson, Arizona – Pima County Attorney Laura Conover applauds the decision announced today by the Arizona Court of Appeals in favor of Planned Parenthood of Arizona (PPAZ) and the Pima County Attorney’s Office on the matter of reproductive rights in Arizona.

“We are relieved for all of Arizona that the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood and our office,” Conover said Friday. “The ruling prevents an effort to go back to a mid-19^th century, near-total ban that would not end the need for or choice of abortion. It would have only made it far less safe for those seeking medical procedures.”

The decision makes abortion services legal up to 15 weeks into pregnancy based on a law passed by the 2022 Legislature and signed by Gov. Doug Ducey.

The status of abortion law in Arizona came to Pima County following the overturning of Roe v Wade because a 1973 injunction (protection) remained in place statewide, allowing reproductive health care to continue.

Arizona’s outgoing Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a motion in Pima County Superior Court to lift that protection and revert back to the 1864 near-total ban.

In 1973, the Pima County Attorney’s Office joined the Attorney General in the desire to continue criminally prosecuting abortion. However, County Attorney Conover and her Chief Civil Deputy Sam Brown effectively switched sides, joining PPAZ when the case was heard in September.

“It has been a pivotal and historic time, and I am so incredibly proud of our civil attorneys and the work they have done in conjunction with Planned Parenthood,” Conover said. “That it has led to continued protections for Arizonans is so important and gratifying.”

Importantly, Arizona AG Elect Kris Mayes told Conover in a phone call earlier today that given this outcome, she would welcome such a decision and had no intention of appealing.

“What a dramatic 11^th-hour turnabout for reproductive health,” Conover said.