Arkansas’ Republican attorney general is participating in a multistate legal challenge to abortion shield laws in California, Massachusetts and New York, placing the office in a court fight that reaches beyond the state’s borders.
The lawsuits target protections adopted by the three states for health care providers who send abortion medications to patients in states with abortion bans. Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama have sued over those laws before the U.S. Supreme Court and have also brought cases against individual providers in federal district court.
A multistate dispute
The litigation is part of a broader conflict among state attorneys general that has grown since the Supreme Court ended the federal constitutional right to an abortion four years ago. Attorneys general in states with abortion restrictions have used their offices to challenge policies in states that protect access, while attorneys general in states that support access have worked to defend those protections.
Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have enacted shield laws related to reproductive health care. Those laws are designed to protect providers and others from investigations or legal action connected to abortion services provided across state lines. The attorneys general in those states would be positioned to defend the laws if they face challenges similar to the lawsuits brought by Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama.
- Arkansas, Louisiana and Alabama are challenging shield laws in California, Massachusetts and New York.
- The lawsuits concern abortion medications sent to patients in states with abortion bans.
- The same states have sued individual providers in federal district court.
The attorney general’s role
State attorneys general serve as the chief legal officers for their states and can decide when to bring lawsuits, defend state laws or join litigation filed by other states. Their actions can affect residents outside their own jurisdictions when a case concerns medication, health care providers or laws governing conduct across state lines.
The office also can be used to establish specialized legal operations. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell have created reproductive rights units within their offices. Mayes’ office has joined other Democratic attorneys general in challenging restrictions on medication abortion.
Attorneys general are elected in 43 states, appointed by governors in five states, elected by legislatures in Maine and appointed by the state Supreme Court in Tennessee. The structure gives the office different political and legal relationships across the country, but the attorneys general remain the officials responsible for representing their states in many of these disputes.
The Arkansas lawsuits place the state’s attorney general among the Republican attorneys general seeking to limit the reach of shield laws enacted elsewhere. The cases also show how decisions by a state office can become part of national litigation over abortion access, medication distribution and the authority of states to protect providers operating under their laws.
