PHOENIX — Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane wants to intervene in the state Supreme Court battle over abortion laws because he wants to start enforcing a territorial-era law that outlaws virtually all abortions.
In pleadings to the high court, attorneys for McGrane said he does not agree with the decision by the state Court of Appeals that a 2022 law permitting doctors to perform the procedure through the 15th week of pregnancy trumps the older statute.
But his ability to prosecute doctors for violating the old law hangs on whether the state’s high court sees things his way. And he fears that is in danger because no government attorney is making that argument now that newly elected Attorney General Kris Mayes has decided that position, taken by her predecessor Mark Brnovich, is legally indefensible.
