July 2022 has been eventful at the People’s Office, but nothing has been more urgent than our work with community partners to be a calm voice of reassurance for Pima County on the issue of reproductive rights and health care.
Last November, the Senior Leadership Team met to analyze the role of the Pima County Attorney should Roe v. Wade fall. By way of context, Arizona had three laws on the books dating back to territorial time that imply a full ban on abortion, a brand new 15-week ban from the most recent legislative session, and a 1973 injunction here in Pima County against criminalizing abortions that remains in effect and appears to impact everyone statewide. PCAO is a named defendant in that 1973 case, having argued then for the right to continue to prosecute abortion.
After the leak of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs, the Office was pleased to have the opportunity to review a Tucson City Council resolution in support of continued reproductive rights.
This resolution revises the Tucson Police Department’s General Orders to clarify that they would continue to focus on public safety and not expend precious resources on physical arrests.
County Attorney Laura Conover spoke in support of those measures at that Council meeting having already assured people publicly that she is committed to ensuring that nobody seeking or assisting in an abortion would spend a night in jail in Pima County.
After the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs, Civil Chief Deputy Sam Brown advised the Pima County Board of Supervisors and helped author a similar resolution spelling out the human and financial cost of prohibiting safe and legal abortion services and vowing to support.
That resolution directs the County Administrator to:
- Ensure a broad range of legal reproductive health services are offered through the Pima County Health Department,
- Convene clinical partners in Pima County to plan, coordinate and deliver legal reproductive care, and
- Work with partner agencies in the county, state and nationally to disseminate accurate information about sexual and reproductive health and advocate for evidence-based reproductive health care, including abortion services.
If my administration at PCAO has learned anything in its nascent 18 months, it is that the community (and nation) already suffer from the uncertainty of the ongoing pandemic, a difficult economy, political division, and an unprecedented homicide spike driven by it all. The last thing society needed was yet another cause for deep anxiety. Led by Sam Brown, PCAO joined Planned Parenthood of Arizona’s response to the Attorney General’s motion to lift a pre-Roe injunction and re-enact 19th Century law prohibiting virtually all abortions in the state. Effectively changing sides from the position PCAO took in 1973, Laura has opined that it was likely the most impactful motion she has ever filed in court, potentially affecting the lives of thousands state-wide.