Four Democratic lawmakers want a legal opinion on when women in Arizona can legally get an abortion after the 15th week of pregnancy and when doctors can perform them without risking going to prison.
And they want it soon.
In a letter to Attorney General Kris Mayes, the four point out that the 15-week limit, currently in effect, does allow for a pregnancy to be terminated after that point in cases of a "medical emergency.''
Nothing in the 2022 law, however, defines exactly what that means. And that, they said, creates problems.
"These pregnant people face, while in the midst of a medical emergency, a situation in which their future reproductive health is being threatened,'' the four wrote. Ditto, they said about the lives of those who are pregnant, which "would be endangered or even lost due to confusion by doctors as to what constitutes a medical emergency under state law.''
But it's not just about patients.
"Medical doctors should not have to put their medical license or their personal freedom at risk to perform an abortion that they need to be medically appropriate to avert death or for which a delay will create a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function,'' they wrote.
The letter signed by Sens. Christine Marsh and Eva Burch and Reps. Judy Schwiebert and Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, seeks a response by the second week in July.
A spokesman for Mayes said she is working to meet that target.
All this became necessary because of the 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade , the historic 1973 ruling that concluded that women have a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.
Under Roe , women in Arizona could get an abortion without having to provide a reason through fetal viability, generally considered between 22 and 24 weeks. After that, however, there always was an understanding that abortion was available to preserve the life or health of the mother.
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled in April that the demise of Roe meant Arizona could again enforce a territorial-era law, never repealed, which outlaws the practice except to save the life of the mother. But the justices put that ruling on hold to give Mayes a chance to seek U.S. Supreme Court review.
That leaves the 15-week law, adopted in 2022, in place for the time being and what the four lawmakers say is a lack of a definition when a "medical emergency'' abortion is allowed after that.
"This is a situation that is faced daily by pregnant people across the state,'' they wrote to Mayes. "There is an urgent need to inform practitioners as to what is legally appropriate under current state law.''
This isn't an academic question.
Texas has a near-total abortion law.
That statute does permit the procedure in cases where a doctor exercises "reasonable medical judgment.'' Only thing is, like Arizona, that is not defined.
All that came into sharp focus late last year in the case of Kate Cox, who sought an abortion after she learned her fetus as a lethal anomaly.
She argued that a continued pregnancy endangered her life and future fertility. But her doctors refused to perform the procedure because they feared running afoul of the law.
Cox ended up going out of state when the justices of the Texas Supreme Court concluded there was nothing unclear about the law. But the court did agree to ask the Texas Medical Board to come up with more guidance.
That board is weighing rules to clarify. But those rules remain in limbo following criticism from women, doctors and representatives of some of the state's largest medical associations who said they really don't clarify anything.
The Arizona lawmakers are seeking something more specific than what is going on in Texas, asking Mayes to "help articulate to both pregnant persons and medical practitioners how to determine what it means for a pregnant person to be experiencing a 'medical emergency.' '' That includes what medical implications a doctor could use to satisfy the requirements to allow an abortion past the 15-week mark.
"To put it another way, at what point does a medical emergency allow for an immediate abortion under state law?'' they asked.
All this could become moot if voters approve a proposed constitutional amendment in November which would enshrine a right to abortion in the Arizona Constitution.
It would prohibit the state from denying, restricting or interfering with that right prior to fetal viability. And abortions would be allowed beyond that point in cases where "in the good faith judgment of a treating health care professional (it) is necessary to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.''
Backers claim they already have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. But its passage is not assured, as there also is organized opposition by those who say that language, particularly the mental health exception, is too broad.
In seeking an opinion from Mayes, all four spelled out their request should not be seen as an endorsement of the current 15-week ban.
"To the contrary, we strongly oppose the arbitrary deadline of 15 weeks of pregnancy to obtain a lawful abortion in this state,'' they wrote.
"By placing such a restriction on reproductive healthcare, the state is threatening the lives of pregnant people, sending a signal that the state does not trust them with their healthcare decisions,'' they continued. "But the 15-week provision is current law and our constituents desperately need legal guidance on what constitutes a medical emergency after 15 weeks.''
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