Kris Mayes, the Democratic candidate for Arizona Attorney General, joined Closing Bell to discuss her platform and break down why she will not enforce what she calls Arizona's 'radical right-wing' abortion ban.

Closing Bell

Democratic Candidate for Arizona Attorney General Vows to Not Prosecute Abortion Cases

Welcome back to cheddar News is closing bell. Everyone christian Schouler down here on the floor of the stock exchange. And ever since the Supreme Court's friday decision to overturn roe versus wade. And the end of the federal right to an abortion anger, fear and confusion have run rampant across the United States. A lot of the confusion stemming from a lack of understanding of what will happen to women in states that decide to outlaw abortion. Can they still access abortion care? And if so, will they be prosecuted for a private medical decision? Well, joining me now is Chris Mays. She's a Democratic candidate for attorney general in the state of Arizona chris, thanks so much for coming on the show. I know Arizona is one of these states that does have an abortion ban set to take effect in a few months and planned parenthood in the state, pausing all operations. What kind of protections can be offered to women in your state if you do become attorney general, right, chris. And so Arizona is one of the states that have trigger laws on the books right now making abortion illegal. But this is not the end of the story. We can still fight this and we can do it by electing attorney generals like me who will not prosecute abortion. Uh, in the state of Arizona, we, the vast majority of Arizona's do not believe that the government has any place interfering in this most private of spheres. The government should not be making decisions over how a woman what a woman does with her body. And certainly we do not believe that prosecutors should be putting women uh, and doctors in jail for reproductive services. So you know, we can still do this. Yes. We have these trigger laws on the books in Arizona, but Arizona like a number of states also has an express right to privacy in our constitution. And I am going to rely on that express right to privacy to prevent the prosecution of women and to ensure that women can continue to receive reproductive services in our state, any estimate chris as to how many of these women, how many women this would affect in your state? Um, it is thousands and and uh, you know, we certainly uh, see thousands of women seeking services in the 11 clinics that we have here, Arizona would probably be the most affected state in the country. Um, you know, if abortion is prosecuted in Arizona and if these laws go into effect, we will go from a situation where women travel an average of 17 miles to receive services to 247 miles. So women would have to travel. We are facing a situation and this is outrageous kristen where Arizona women may have to flee to California or Nevada or colorado or new Mexico to receive an abortion or to have reproductive care. That's unacceptable. That is absolutely unacceptable in the year 2020 22. And when I am the attorney general of Arizona, it is not going to happen on my watch. And so there's so much we can do to, to, to continue to fight for reproductive services. So let me ask you this as well. We have actually seen an uptick in crimes against abortion providers really just here in recent months, would they be legally banned from operating if you were to be elected as attorney general and if they remain open, how could they be protected? Well, I, I think this comes down to uh, you know, the question of whether you have prosecutors in place who are going after these providers. And unfortunately we do have a Republican prosecutor in Maricopa County who has said she will go after providers and prosecute. Um, and so that is why it's so incredibly important. This november. Um, arizonans, americans can take this issue into their own hands and elect prosecute computers and attorney generals who will not prosecute providers and doctors. And I think that's part of the problem is that so many clinics, so many reproductive care clinics, even IVF clinics are not sure whether their own government is going to try to put them in jail for providing health care to, to arizonans and americans. And let's not forget who's going to be hurt the most. It's gonna be the women who don't have the money who don't have the funds and the resources to travel out of state to California or other states where it remains legal. So this fight is not over and we are going to continue to work to make sure that Arizonans, all arizonans have access to health care and reproductive care going forward. But it is definitely a huge fight that we have ahead of us. It is, it certainly is. And it sounds like your confidence certainly you will push to have women who make that private decision with their doctor for them to be protected. But can that be guaranteed in the state of Arizona with this trigger law in the next few months? Well look, yeah, the next, the next you're absolutely right. Kristen the next six months before you know, the next attorney general is elected and obviously I am fighting hard to be the next attorney general of Arizona. But we're about to find out in the next six months whether these republican prosecutors who are in place right now are actually willing to go there and actually willing to prosecute a doctor or a nurse or a pharmacist or a woman for having an abortion and for determining what happens to her own body. And I certainly hope that does not happen. But that it just, you know, points out how incredibly important The 2022 election is. We've got six months obviously of uncertainty this matter will probably be adjudicated even in those six months in the courts, but we have a chance as voters in November to send a clear signal to our, to our elected officials and to our government that it is not going to be tolerated, that that that the government has no place in making these private decisions for women in this country and in states like Arizona. So just to clarify it, it technically abortion is technically via this trigger law illegal within the next few months in the state of Arizona chris, but it sounds like as the Democratic candidate for Arizona attorney general, you're still questioning whether or not some of these women, their physicians and these providers can actually be taken to court and see successful cases against them. Is that the case? Yeah, well, I think a couple of things kristen have to have to happen. I do think that the there needs to be an injunction lifted on some of the trigger laws. So that that issue is yet to be determined. The the ban that was passed by the legislature here with no exception for rape or incest. It's an extreme radical law, that law doesn't go into effect for 100 days. But um, what what is happening is that a number of the clinics here are shutting down at least pausing their operations because of the uncertainty around this. And that is so very sad. So many women are being left in limbo or being told that they have to travel to places like California to get the care that they need and we we just cannot have a situation where women are are going to be put in danger, their lives put in danger because of some radical right wing agenda of the United States Supreme Court. Um So in Arizona, yes, this issue is coming back to Arizona and you know, when I win my race as attorney general, we're going to make sure that we protect the women of this state and their right to choose chris what are you hearing from? Women on the ground in the state of Arizona, your potential constituency? You know what Kristen? I'm hearing a lot of fear, but I am also hearing anger. Women are furious. They are absolutely furious in the state of Arizona that overnight government decided that it was in a better position to decide what happens to women's bodies, that it was in a better position to decide the bodily autonomy of Arizona women. And so that I think this has fundamentally Fundamentally changed the dynamic quite frankly, of of elections here in Arizona, this is going to be one of the top if not the number one issue in my election. I predict because women do not want to see this happen 63%. Kristen, 63 of arizonans believe that abortion should remain legal in Arizona. I mean, we are after all the state that gave the country Barry Goldwater, who was pro choice and it was Sandra Day O'Connor, our own Sandra Day, O'Connor who wrote the Casey decision that was overturned just the other day by this Radical Supreme Court. So this is not something that arizonans want and it's not something that they're going to accept. All right chris Mayes, Democratic candidate for Arizona. Arizona Attorney General Chris, thank you so much for taking the time and coming on the show.