Arizona Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments On Conflicting Abortion Bans

Arizona Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments On Conflicting Abortion Bans

By Corinne Murdock |

On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court held oral arguments on the state’s two conflicting abortion bans in the case Planned Parenthood et al v. Kristin Mayes/Hazelrigg

The court is determining the fate of two conflicting laws: the total abortion ban outlawing all but life-saving abortions, in existence prior to Arizona achieving statehood with versions dating back to Arizona’s first laws as a territory in 1864, and the 2022 ban restricting abortions to 15 weeks’ gestation except in cases of medical emergency. The latter law was codified just months before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, who has refused to defend the pre-statehood ban, declared the day before the oral arguments that the ban would relegate Arizonans to a lesser, premodern society.

“Arizonans cannot be shoved back to the 1860s,” said Mayes.

Gov. Katie Hobbs encouraged voters to sign the ballot petition to legalize all abortion up to birth.

Stepping up to defend the pre-statehood ban in Mayes’ stead and first to speak during Tuesday’s oral arguments was Jake Warner, an attorney with the Scottsdale-based conservative Christian legal organization, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF). 

Warner proposed that a certain continuity exists between the pre-statehood ban, which the court referred to as the “territorial law,” and the 2022 ban limiting abortions to 15 weeks’ gestation. 

Per Warner, the pre-statehood ban imposes a certain authority on the 2022 statute: all abortions prior to 15 weeks must be life-saving, and that abortions after 15 weeks must not only be life-saving but based on a medical emergency. Warner said that the language of the 2022 statute gave express direction to give deference to the pre-statehood ban.

Chief Justice Robert Brutinel and Vice Chief Justice Ann Timmer didn’t appear convinced of the argument. The pair indicated that physicians would be confused by the two statutes.

On the subject of ectopic pregnancies — an oft-referenced terminal condition in the abortion debate — Warner said that physicians wouldn’t be punished for their removal, since ectopic pregnancies constitute a medical emergency and their removal constitutes a life-saving measure. 

Warner said that the 2022 restriction doesn’t repeal the pre-statehood abortion ban, because it created no new right to an abortion. Brutinel posited that the legislative intent with the newer law was to legalize abortion up to 15 weeks’ gestation. Warner countered that the legislature’s intent with its 2022 restriction was to ensure that it protected unborn life to the greatest extent possible. 

Justice Clint Bolick questioned how the current law doesn’t conflict with the territorial ban, challenging the implication that something that wasn’t able to be prosecuted prior to Dobbs could now be prosecuted. Likewise, Brutinel said that a physician couldn’t have been prosecuted for conducting abortions under the new law. Warner responded that the language of the 2022 statute only purports to regulate terminations after 15 weeks, not before.

Counsel for Planned Parenthood Arizona, Andy Gaona, argued that the state legislature has displayed a progressive permissiveness when it comes to allowable abortions. Gaona stopped short of declaring the existence of a right to abortion at the outset of his arguments, but did declare, repeatedly, that abortion constituted a form of health care in closing.

“We have never maintained the right to an abortion exists,” said Gaona. “Abortion is health care. I’m not sure anyone has ever said that in this courtroom.”

Contrary to what Warner posited, Gaona argued that the 2022 law allows abortions up to 15 weeks without prosecutions, citing the previous court of appeals decision. Timmer asked whether the state legislature would need to declare a right to an abortion in order to permit that interpretation; Gaona responded that the legislature only needs to regulate criminal conduct to do so, arguing that criminal laws allow that which they don’t criminalize. 

Bolick pointed out the 2022 law specifically referenced the territorial law in its construction: 

“This act does not […] Repeal, by implication or otherwise, section 13-3603, Arizona Revised Statutes, or any other applicable state law regulating or restricting abortion,” stated the provision.

Gaona disagreed. He said that the court of appeals’ harmonization of the statutes didn’t repeal the pre-statehood law, even by removing prosecution, because the 2022 law now qualifies as the criminal prohibition for elective abortions. Gaona clarified that a physician couldn’t be prosecuted under the territorial statute, but could under the 2022 law if they conduct abortions after 15 weeks. 

Gaona argued that a series of statutes that aren’t self-referential or fail to include language repealing an old statute qualify as an implied repeal. Gaona said that if the legislature’s intent was to resurrect the pre-statehood ban, it should’ve stated that clearly “and it clearly didn’t do that.” 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Horne To Testify At Antisemitism Hearing

Horne To Testify At Antisemitism Hearing

By Corinne Murdock |

Arizona’s only Jewish statewide elected official, Department of Education Superintendent Tom Horne, will testify on Tuesday morning at a House meeting concerning antisemitism in education.

Horne’s testimony will be heard by the House Ad Hoc Committee on Antisemitism in Education. Tuesday’s meeting will consist of public testimony. Chairing the committee is Rep. Neal Carter (R-LD15). The other committee members are Reps. Seth Blattman (D-LD09), Michael Carbone (R-LD25), Alma Hernandez (D-LD20), Consuelo Hernandez (D-LD21), Alexander Kolodin (R-LD03), Teresa Martinez (R-LD16), Barbara Parker (R-LD10), Jennifer Pawlik (D-LD13), Marcelino Quiñonez (D-LD11), and Julie Willoughby (R-LD13).

Horne warned last month that antisemitism is a burgeoning issue in the U.S.

“Antisemitism is rising across the country and especially on college campuses,” said Horne.

Following the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict with the Hamas terrorist attack in October, reports of antisemitic speech and activism in schools have became more frequent.

Last month, Horne addressed one widely publicized incident of a Desert Mountain High School club using materials from UNICEF and Amnesty International to encourage students to side with Hamas. Horne debunked various claims of pro-Palestine materials distributed by the club and its affiliates as propaganda, such as that Israel is an apartheid state and that Jewish peoples illegally obtained land in the Middle East following World War II. 

“In none of this propaganda is there any reference to what happened on October 7, not a single reference. All of these kids have an obsession with libels against Israel and the Jewish people,” said Horne. “The actions of Hamas are a repetition of what happened during World War II, yet the materials that are presented by UNICEF and Amnesty International and used as propaganda in our schools make no mention of it at all.”

Hamas murdered over 1,400 innocent civilians on October 7, sparking an escalation in the Israel-Hamas conflict. 

According to Horne, his parents fled Poland in September 1938, exactly one year before World War II broke out, because his father, an avid history reader, predicted that the Nazis would invade Poland. Horne shared that his father had warned his Jewish community at the time of the looming Nazi threat, but that not many listened. The remainder of the Hornes’ extended family abroad reportedly perished in the Holocaust. 

“I’ve been a big advocate of teaching our students history because our immediate family survived because of my father’s knowledge of history and ability to interpret current events, and I believe that our next generation’s survival depends on their knowledge of history and their ability to interpret current events,” said Horne.

About a week later at the Arizona Board of Regents meeting, Horne turned his back on pro-Palestine protesters attempting to obtain the attention of him and other members.

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) responded to the protest with condemnation for growing opposition to Jewish people and the defense of Hamas.

“The rise of antisemitism is alarming in our schools, and support for the terrorist group Hamas across the country can’t be accepted,” stated ADE.

The committee meeting is scheduled for 9:00 am on Tuesday, with Horne scheduled to testify at 9:30 am. The meeting will be livestreamed here.

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

Hobbs Claims Both Parties To Blame For Border Crisis

Hobbs Claims Both Parties To Blame For Border Crisis

By Corinne Murdock |

Gov. Katie Hobbs says that both parties are to blame for the worsening state of the border crisis.

During a weekend visit to the border in Lukeville, Hobbs called for an increase in bipartisan action to solve the torrent of illegal immigration that prompted the recent, sudden closure of the Lukeville Port of Entry. 

“I’m not afraid to stand up to politicians on either side who aren’t doing what’s in the best interests in Arizona,” said Hobbs. “Now is not the time for partisan politics, it’s time for action.”

Hobbs repeated her earlier commitment to obtain reimbursement from the Biden administration for current and future state expenditures to handle the border crisis: over $512.5 million so far. 

“Arizona has borne the brunt of federal inaction on our southern border for far too long,” said Hobbs.

Last Friday, Hobbs reversed course on sending the National Guard to the border, spending up to $5 million to do so.

The governor also announced the establishment of a new office within the Arizona Department of Homeland Security — Operation Safety, Enforcement, Coordination, & Uniform Response (SECURE) — using $2 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. 

As part of the increased action on the border, Hobbs sent a letter to President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to reassign over 200 Tucson Sector National Guard members to the Lukeville Port of Entry.

“Border security is a top priority of mine,” said Hobbs. “As long as I’m Governor, I will do everything I can to keep Arizonans safe — even when the federal government fails to act.”

Hobbs’ weekend visit and letter to the Biden administration marked the first major move for the governor to stymie the worsening border crisis.

The first month of the 2024 fiscal year, October, marked another record high in southern border encounters: nearly 241,000, an almost 10,000-person increase from October 2022 (the first month of the 2023 fiscal year) and a 76,000-person increase from October 2021 (the first month of the 2022 fiscal year). 

Under Biden, there have been over 6.6 million encounters with illegal immigrants along the southern border. That’s more than the terms of former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump combined — over a decade of encounters.

Under Trump, there were over 2.3 million encounters. Under both of Obama’s terms, there were over 3.3 million encounters. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

House Republicans Blast Hobbs, Biden, And Mayes For Lukeville Port Closure

House Republicans Blast Hobbs, Biden, And Mayes For Lukeville Port Closure

By Daniel Stefanski |

Arizona House Republicans are voicing extreme displeasure with President Biden’s border policies.

On Friday, Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma and 30 of his colleagues in the chamber sent a letter to President Joe Biden, demanding that the Democrat Commander in Chief “reverse your policy and put a halt to the wide-open door for so-called ‘asylum-seekers.’”

The reason for the letter stemmed from the decision from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to close the Lukeville Port of Entry earlier this week. The Lukeville section of the border, inside the Tucson Sector, has recently become the epicenter of the historic crisis, seeing thousands of illegal aliens pour into the United States through gaps in the fence. In their letter, the Arizona lawmakers wrote that “the closure has caused an immediate collapse of economic activity and legal movement through that critical port of entry,” adding that “Arizonans along the way to Lukeville will needlessly suffer as businesses shutter in communities such as Gila Bend, Ajo, and Why.”

Speaker Toma said, “Securing the border is supposed to be the federal government’s job. But the willful inaction by President Biden is causing irreparable harm. Arizona’s Democratic leaders, Governor Hobbs and Attorney General Mayes, also ignore calls to defend the state and hold the federal government accountable. When Republicans in the Legislature specifically funded a mission of the National Guard to provide support to law enforcement on the border, Governor Hobbs cut that mission short to instead aid the transportation and housing of illegal aliens. Arizonans can count on House Republicans to pursue meaningful policy and budgetary solutions in the upcoming legislative session to protect Arizona’s border, border communities, and the people we are elected to represent.”

The letter from the Arizona legislators included several reasons why the state of Arizona – and other neighboring states – have been negatively affected by the border crisis. It noted that “border states in particular are significantly harmed by your administration’s failed policies every day. Our law enforcement agencies at the border are overextended. Health care providers in border communities are overworked to such an extent that they are struggling to provide essential services to the residents of their community in need of care.”

As they closed the letter, the Arizona State Representatives warned that they would “hold (President Biden) accountable for your refusal to protect this nation and its people.”

Over the course of this year, Arizona Legislative Republicans have repeatedly directed their ire to national and local Democrats over the unprecedented situation at the border. Earlier this fall, soon after the horrific terrorist attack in Israel on October 7, Senate President Warren Petersen issued a statement, saying, “Our own country must remain vigilant, as our wide open border, ignored by Joe Biden and Democrats, remains one of the greatest threats to our national security.”

In May, freshman Representative Austin Smith visited the border to gain first-hand knowledge. After his trip, he posted, “Eye opening experience down here on the border. Joe Biden and Mayorkas are derelict in their duty to our country. Absolutely shameful.”

A smaller coalition of state representatives, led by Gail Griffin, also sent a letter to Governor Hobbs in May, calling on Arizona’s chief executive “to take immediate action and activate all state resources to keep our communities safe from these dangerous and unprecedented threats.” The group of five legislators pointed to a February 22 legal opening from then-Attorney General Mark Brnovich, which documented “the federal government’s failure to uphold its duty to defend the States from invasion – particularly at Arizona’s border with Mexico – by drug cartels and gangs’ violence, lawlessness, and trafficking of deadly illicit drugs, such as fentanyl.”

Back in February, Representative Tim Dunn reacted to the president’s State of the Union address, stating that it failed “to address the emergency effecting the southern border. This can end by changing his policy. This allows fentanyl to come to your neighborhood. Secure the border protect our airways from China and open up oil exploration to curb inflation.”

Though the border crisis appears to be worsening by the day, legislative Republicans have effectively made the point that the reality for Arizonans could be more daunting if not for their check on the Democrats in the state – especially Governor Katie Hobbs. When Hobbs signed the state budget compromise in May, Senate President Petersen highlighted that his members “prevented the Governor and Democrat Legislators from advancing their extremist agenda…we’re not getting rid of state funded border security resources to keep our communities safe.” In the upcoming session, starting next month, expect Republicans to continue to introduce bills and policies that would give the Grand Canyon State more ability and resources to combat the many scourges of the border crisis.

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

Thompson, O’Connor Offer Amendments To APS EV Charging Plan

Thompson, O’Connor Offer Amendments To APS EV Charging Plan

By Daniel Stefanski |

Last week, Commissioner Kevin Thompson announced that he and Chairman Jim O’Connor had “successfully offered amendments in the APS Transportation Electrification Implementation Plan and Budget (TEIP) agenda item.” The actions from the two commissioners took place in the panel’s meeting on December 5.

According to Thompson’s press release, he “authored an amendment that rejected the utility’s request to use up to $5M in ratepayer funds to develop and install EV charging infrastructure as part of the utility’s proposed ‘Take Charge AZ’ program.” O’Connor’s amendment ensured “that any EV rebates offered by the utility must be provided at shareholder expense, and not at the expense of ratepayers or ratepayer subsidization.”

“We can’t continue to financially burden the majority of ratepayers who don’t own an EV or who utilize charging stations,” said Commissioner Thompson. “Infrastructure for EV charging is an opportunity for the market and private enterprise to innovate and thrive, not utilities at the expense of their ratepayers.”

O’Connor added, “Our decision on Trico’s EV program in September of this year set the model we would like to see for all future EV charging; namely, no cost shift to ratepayers.”

The communication from Thompson’s Office shared that Commissioner Nick Myers also “provided an amendment that discontinued the Take Charge AZ program moving forward, allowing APS to complete the installation of charging stations currently underway.”

In his first year on the job, Thompson has taken several actions to improve efficiencies at the commission and to stand up for ratepayers. This summer, Thompson fulfilled a priority of his when he helped to secure increased funding for Corporation Commission staff without adding any more dollars to the state’s general fund. He said, “One of the significant consequences of being understaffed and under-resourced is that Arizona has consistently ranked in the bottom tier nationally in processing utility rate cases—it takes fifty percent longer to process a rate case in Arizona – resulting in delays to build new generation and replace critical infrastructure, driving up ratepayer costs and further destabilizing our regulatory and investment climate.”

Thompson also announced that he had “amended several provisions in a recent proposal for UniSource Energy’s (“UNS”) Demand Side Management (“DSM”) Energy Efficiency (“EE”) program.” The release explained that these amendments “eliminated or revised several proposals” and “reigned in ratepayer-funded incentives to contractors and sales consultants and focused on prioritizing programs that provided greater value to residential customers and target low-income customers.”

The Republican Commissioner also led a letter to Governor Katie Hobbs in October, asking the state’s chief executive to address the overwhelming price increases for electricity customers of the San Carlos Irrigation Project. The letter was co-signed by three of his colleagues – Lea Marquez Peterson, Myers, and O’Connor.

Commissioner Anna Tovar, the lone Democrat on the panel, did not add her name to the letter. Thompson told AZ Free News that he and his fellow Republicans “are willing to do whatever we can in our individual capacities to encourage our delegation and state government to put aside partisanship and get the federal government out of the business that private enterprise should be providing.”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

Rep. Lesko’s Bills To Improve Nuclear Energy, Limit Energy Conservation Regulations Advance

Rep. Lesko’s Bills To Improve Nuclear Energy, Limit Energy Conservation Regulations Advance

By Corinne Murdock |

Two bills improving nuclear energy production and limiting energy efficiency regulations on home appliances from Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-AZ-08) are set to be voted on by the whole House. 

Both bills passed out of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Tuesday. In a press release, Lesko said that the bills represented commonsense protections of two critical aspects of everyday American living. 

“I am thrilled that these two commonsense bills have passed out of committee,” said Lesko. “I am working every day to leave our state and nation in a better place than when we found it, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that these proposals are approved by the full House of Representatives.”

One of the bills, the Advancing Nuclear Regulatory Oversight Act, would require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to give reports to Congress on all procedural changes implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report would also have to outline proposed efficiency improvements for the future. 

The bill passed out of committee through another bill, H.R. 6544.

The report would also include an examination of the costs associated with the commission’s headquarters, regional offices, and technical training center. Specifically, the report would include costs not supportive of the commission’s mission, such as rent subsidies for other federal agencies, and proposals for cost reductions such as shedding or consolidating office spaces.

The other bill, the Hands Off Our Home Appliances Act, would limit the Department of Energy (DOE) from issuing new or amended energy efficiency standards that wouldn’t be technologically feasible or economically justified.

The act would allow for the amendment or revocation of energy efficiency standards that result in additional costs to consumers, don’t result in a significant conservation of energy or water, aren’t technologically feasible, and result in the affected product to not be commercially available to all consumers. 

It would also require the DOE to conduct a quantitative economic impact analysis prior to prescribing any new or amended energy conservation standards. Included within this analysis would be the costs to low-income households, the variation in costs to consumers based on regional differences, effects of the standards on employment, and the lifecycle costs for the affected appliances: purchase, installation, maintenance, disposal, and replacement. 

The act would restrict the DOE from declaring economic justification of any energy conservation standard unless the standard wouldn’t result in additional net costs to the consumer (purchase, installation, maintenance, disposal, and replacement of the affected products), and would result in a monetary value of energy savings.

In order to qualify as significant energy or water savings, the conservation standard would have to result in a reduction of at least .3 quads of site energy over three years or at least a 10 percent reduction in energy or water use of the affected product. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.