By Alexis Cortez and Amy Cutler
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) –After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week, Maricopa County’s top prosecutor is providing some clarity about which abortion prosecutions will be enforced in the state. Maricopa County attorney Rachel Mitchell told Arizona’s Family she wouldn’t prosecute abortions for rape or incest victims. Mitchell says her background working with sex crimes cases provided a foundation for the decision.
“As you know, my background as a sex crimes prosecutor and when I consider those situations, those aren’t theoretical discussions to me. I’ve had quite a few cases where women have gotten pregnant through rape or children have gotten raped pregnant through molestation or incest and that’s a completely different issue. I am not here to revictimize victims,” said Mitchell.
Supreme Court ends Roe v. Wade protections allowing Arizona to ban abortions after 15 weeks
Abortion providers Arizona’s Family spoke with questioned the decision and how it would work. Providers asked if they’d have to get a police report from victims.
Dr. Ronald Yunis, who’s been an OBGYN for 25 years, was more critical. “Just an empty statement, the hypocrisy of it is unbelievable. So it’s okay to do an abortion on someone or an unborn child that is the product of incest or rape or whatever that is in no way that unborn child’s fault, but it’s not okay to do in the case of domestic violence or something else. Where do you draw that line? It’s just laughable,” he said.
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