Arizona’s abortion ban is testing how much authority a state attorney general has to look the other way rather than enforcing a law they disagree with.
State Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Republican turned Democrat, has said she will not enforce Arizona’s near-total abortion ban should it go into effect after the state Supreme Court upheld it earlier this month. Her stance isn’t new: Throughout her campaign for the office, Mayes said she would not prosecute anyone for getting an abortion.
Mayes is well within her prosecutorial discretion to not take any action in abortion cases. A 2023 executive order from Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs gave the attorney general sole prosecutorial authority over abortion-related cases. Previously, county attorneys, who are also elected officials, would generally be the ones to prosecute these cases.