Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs cancels plans to call special session on abortions

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs no longer plans to call a special session to repeal Arizona’s Civil War-era ban on abortions.

This comes after she promised on the campaign trail that she would call a special session on day one of her time in office.

“I think that’s important to help restore certainty to the environment that we have right now in terms of what our access to safe legal abortion will look like in Arizona,” she told KTAR News 92.3 FM host Barry Markson on Nov. 23.

Hobbs spokeswoman Josselyn Berry told KTAR News 92.3 FM in a statement that’s no longer the plan. She explained a recent court decision “makes a special session unnecessary.”

“The governor is, of course, still committed to restoring access to abortion and defending reproductive rights for Arizonans,” Berry added.

Hobbs made the pledge for a special session after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and a judge ruled Arizona could enforce an 1864 law that banned nearly all abortions. The only exemption was if the woman’s life was in jeopardy.

Late Friday, the Arizona Court of Appeals ruled that doctors cannot be prosecuted under the pre-statehood law for performing an abortion in the first 15 weeks of pregnancy.

The court explained it was because other Arizona laws passed over the years allow them to perform the procedure.

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