Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick in January 2023. Photo by Gage Skidmore (modified) | Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick has recused himself from participating in an appeal aimed to block an abortion rights initiative from being put to voters in November.
If voters favor the Arizona Abortion Access Act, it would guarantee a woman’s right to an abortion up to the point of fetal viability, around 24 weeks of pregnancy. Exceptions to that limit would be allowed if a health care provider determined it was necessary to preserve a patient’s life, physical or mental health.
Arizona Right to Life has asked the state’s high court to overturn the decision of a trial court judge who disagreed with the anti-abortion organization’s claim that a summary of the initiative misled voters who signed the petition to get it on the ballot.
Alberto Rodriguez, a spokesman for the Arizona Supreme Court, said the recusal related to Bolick’s marriage to a state senator, Shawnna Bolick. He said the justice worked with the high court’s ethics attorney to develop guidelines for when he should recuse himself from cases.
“In addition to disqualification rules that apply regardless of his wife Shawnna Bolick’s elected status, such as when she is a party to litigation, he will recuse in any challenge to the constitutionality of a law in which he is aware that his wife was a prime sponsor or prominently identified as a supporter or opponent,” Rodriguez said in a written statement. “Otherwise, he will not.”
In 2022 then-state Rep. Shawnna Bolick, a Phoenix Republican, was one of the sponsors of a bill that banned abortion in Arizona after 15 weeks of pregnancy. She has also been a vocal opponent of abortion rights throughout her career as a political activist and elected official.
Clint Bolick recused himself earlier from considering a separate suit related to a description of the ballot measure that will be sent to every voter because his wife was a defendant in that case.
Retired former Arizona Supreme Court Justice John Pelander will consider the fate of the abortion rights ballot measure instead of Clint Bolick, according to an order from Chief Justice Ann Scott Timmer.
The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office confirmed Monday that the Abortion Access Act had collected enough voter signatures to make it on the ballot as Proposition 139. The campaign behind it gathered a total of more than 820,000 signatures, and approximately 578,000 were confirmed to be valid, significantly more than the nearly 384,000 it needed to qualify.
The high court is expected to make a ruling in the case by Aug. 22, the deadline to print ballots.
***UPDATED: This story has been updated with additional information and comments from Alberto Rodriguez.
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