Arizona says “personhood” abortion law can’t lead to charges

By BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — An attorney with the Arizona attorney general’s office says a 2021 state “personhood” law that gives all legal rights to unborn children can’t be used to bring criminal charges against abortion providers. The comment from Assistant Solicitor General Kate Sawyer came during a hearing Friday on a challenge to the law. Attorneys representing abortion providers say abortion providers are worried that prosecutors will bring charges for crimes like assault and child abuse under the law. They want it blocked as unconstitutionally vague. A federal judge in Phoenix declined to block the law last year but is reconsidering it now that the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a woman’s right to get an abortion.