Trial over Arizona abortion restrictions ends with judge voicing doubt about GOP defense

The judge overseeing a challenge to Arizona laws restricting access to abortion appears poised to rule that they violate the constitutional right to abortion that voters created in 2024 after a trial over whether they should be struck down concluded earlier this week.

As the trial wrapped up on Jan. 12, attorneys for reproductive rights groups urged Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Gregory Como to find that the laws are no longer consistent with the rights outlined in the Arizona Constitution and should be thrown out.

Meanwhile, the legal team for Republican legislative leaders, who took up defense of the laws when Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes declined to, argued that the restrictions should be preserved because they don’t actually impede abortion access, just guide how to provide the procedure.

At issue are a series of abortion laws that Republican lawmakers and governors created over the past three decades. While the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected attempts by states to eliminate or sharply curtail access to abortion, they largely allowed legislatures to impose laws that added hurdles and minor inconveniences to people seeking the procedure.



https://azmirror.com/2026/01/15/trial-over-arizona-abortion-restrictions-ends-with-judge-voicing-doubt-about-gop-defense/