Arizona’s Supreme Court is considering abortion law. Lawyers arguing the case are all men
For an hour Tuesday, six justices of the Arizona Supreme Court questioned attorneys in a high-profile case that could either protect, or effectively erase, a woman's right to obtain an abortion in the state.
Four lawyers argued two sides of the case. All were men.
It was a noticeable approach in a consequential case when the broader policy discussion about abortion often focuses on the rights of women to make their own healthcare decisions. Supporters of abortion access argue the government has no role in such choices, and the decision should be between a woman and her doctor.
Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, whose office argued to the court that a 15-week ban on abortion is the prevailing law, told reporters after the arguments that women were a key part of the team preparing the case. The case occurred under her direction as the second female attorney general in state history, she said.
Mayes said her office did discuss whether a woman should deliver the oral argument. Ultimately Joshua Bendor, the solicitor general, stood before the justices. Bendor heads the unit within Mayes' office that handles appeals to federal courts and the Arizona Supreme Court.
"Josh Bendor is the best lawyer in Arizona," Mayes said. "I'm the quarterback, and I'm the coach of the team. I sent in the best oral arguer in the state of Arizona, a guy with tremendous experience."
The team of Mayes' deputies working the case was Luci Davis and Alexander Samuels, who both work in the solicitor general's office with Bendor, and Hayleigh Crawford, Mayes had previously said. Crawford leads the state's first reproductive rights unit, which Mayes created earlier this year.
Pima County Attorney Laura Conover, a Democrat and the third woman to hold that office, cast the decision to obtain an abortion as impacting whole families, especially in an emergency.
"What I'll add to this and what we have seen time and again when we are talking about the life of a woman being at risk in an emergency situation, all too often, it's the husband pacing in the room," Conover said. "It's the partner pacing in the room. The ripple effects affect families."
"These are the life and death situations at play and the real world consequences when we inject the government and the Legislature and the courts and prosecutors and law enforcement into a health care decision," she said.
Samuel Brown, Conover's chief deputy for civil cases, argued the case for her office, splitting time with Bendor and Andy Gaona, an attorney at the Phoenix law firm Coppersmith Brockelman who represents Planned Parenthood Arizona. Gaona also practices election law and has represented Democrats including now-Gov. Katie Hobbs when she was secretary of state in cases related to the 2020 presidential election.
The lawyers from Mayes' office, Conover's office and Planned Parenthood each took turns arguing the court should rule the 15-week abortion ban enacted in 2022 is the prevailing law in Arizona.
On the opposing side was Jake Warner, senior counsel for the appellate team at Alliance Defending Freedom. Warner represented Dr. Eric Hazelrigg, a Gilbert obstetrician/gynecologist, and Republican Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane, who intervened in the case. They argue an 1864 ban that makes doctors who provide abortions subject to prison time is the law in Arizona.
"Life is a human right, and no matter your race, sex, or background, everyone can and should affirm that right," Warner said. "The type of person arguing on either side doesn't change the value of the man, woman, or child involved in a pregnancy."
After the arguments Tuesday, Dr. Jill Gibson, Planned Parenthood's chief medical officer, stood with Gaona on the grand front staircase of the Arizona Supreme Court building near the state Capitol in Phoenix. They stood before a group mostly of women, and Gibson acknowledged specifically Planned Parenthood's women leaders Chief Executive Officer April Donovan and senior adviser Chris Love in the front row.
"What I think is really the most important part of this whole discussion is that we are here today because this is the team that feels most passionately, speaks the most eloquently," Gibson said when asked about who made the arguments. "This is the team that we assembled because we know what's at stake."
Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Male lawyers make case on abortion before Arizona Supreme Court
