By Gloria Rebecca Gomez | AZ Mirror
Arizona doctors have the final say when deciding if a woman needs an emergency abortion, according to Attorney General Kris Mayes.
The Grand Canyon State is currently under a gestational ban that prohibits abortions from being performed after 15 weeks. The only exception is for procedures performed to prevent a patient’s death or the impairment of a “major bodily function.” Doctors who violate the law’s mandates can be punished with a class 6 felony, which may result in a prison sentence of between 4 months and 2 years, and certainly carries with it consequences for medical licenses.
Concerned about the threat of criminalization and how it might lead doctors to delay care, a group of Democratic lawmakers called on Mayes to clarify the situations under which medical professionals can offer an abortion. On Thursday, the state’s top prosecutor said the judgment for what constitutes a medical emergency lies in the hands of doctors — and they can’t be taken to court over the care they provided in good faith.
“As long as those requirements are met, and absent proof of bad faith, nothing in the statute allows the physician’s judgment to be second-guessed after the fact, even if other physicians might have come to a different conclusion,” Mayes wrote in a formal legal opinion.
