POWER PLAY

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs Strikes Back at Abortion Ban, Blocking County Prosecutions

Her executive order will make it much more difficult for counties in Arizona to enforce the state’s 15-week abortion ban.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs signed an executive order on Thursday to effectively block the prosecution of abortions in her state, where a 15-week abortion ban remains in effect. Under the order, all abortion-related county prosecutions will now fall under the control of the state’s attorney general, who has said she will refuse to prosecute people who get them. “I will not allow extreme and out of touch politicians to get in the way of the fundamental right Arizonans have to make decisions about their own bodies and futures,” Hobbs, a Democrat, said in a statement. Hobbs’ order also bans Arizona agencies from cooperating or extraditing suspects in investigations related to other states’ abortion laws. According to The Arizona Republic, the move received praise from abortion rights advocates, and contempt from conservatives who questioned whether it was legal.