Opinion ID: 2676869
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Arizona Legislation

Text: In 2012, the Arizona legislature passed House Bill 2036, a collection of statutory amendments regulating abortion. The amendment at issue in this case regulates medication abortion. It provides: The director [of the Arizona Department of Health Services] shall adopt rules relating to the abortion procedure. At a minimum these rules shall require . . . [t]hat any medication, drug or other substance used to induce an abortion is administered in compliance with the protocol that is authorized by the United States [F]ood and [D]rug [A]dministration and that is outlined in the final printing labeling instructions for that medication, drug or substance. Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 36-449.03(E)(6). Defendant William Humble, Director of Arizona’s Department of Health Services, adopted an implementing regulation as required by the amendment. Ariz. Admin. Code § R9-10-1508(G). The regulation had an effective date of April 1, 2014. We refer to the amendment and regulation collectively as “the Arizona law.” The legislature described its purpose in passing the Arizona law as “[p]rotect[ing] women from the dangerous and potentially deadly off-label use of abortion-inducing drugs, such as, for example, mifepristone” and “[e]nsur[ing] that physicians abide by the protocol tested [sic] and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for such abortion-inducing drugs.” The legislative findings PLANNED PARENTHOOD ARIZONA V. HUMBLE 11 describe various health risks from the use of mifepristone, including risks of infection and hemorrhage. The district court found that the Arizona legislature provided no “supporting evidence for any asserted legislative fact.” The court observed that “the risks associated with medication abortions, relied on by the State as the reason for adopting the [on-label] protocol, have been substantially reduced or eliminated” by the evidence-based regimen.