Abortion in Arizona: AG Mayes issues legal opinion on medical emergencies

PHOENIX - Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes clarified her stance Thursday when it comes to emergency abortions in the state.

During the recent session, the Arizona Legislature repealed the near-total ban that had been put into effect by the state Supreme Court earlier this year.

A group of Democrats then asked Mayes whether the 15-week ban allows for pregnancy to be terminated after that period if it is a case of a medical emergency.

During a news conference on June 27, Mayes said that to comply with that exception, the treating physician must first exercise clinical judgment and determine in good faith that any delay in treatment will create "serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function."

"Once a treating physician forms a good faith clinical judgment that one of these circumstances is satisfied, the statute allows her to perform an immediate abortion, and she need not wait for the patient to deterioriate or inch closer to death," said Mayes.