Undisclosed Gifts May Influence Arizona’s Abortion Ban

A deciding vote to repeal Arizona’s draconian abortion ban could fall to a lawmaker who is heavily influenced by a deep-pocketed anti-choice group — one instance of many conflicts of interest in state supreme courts.

Pro-abortion rally in Phoenix, AZ.

Arizona residents at a rally for abortion rights after the Arizona Supreme Court decision to enact a law from 1864 banning abortion on April 16, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)


In Arizona, a deep-pocketed antiabortion group has been wining and dining a lawmaker who may be a deciding vote on a new effort to repeal the state’s draconian abortion ban — and the senator might have been accompanied by her husband, an Arizona Supreme Court justice who ruled earlier this month that the ban could take effect.

But the public doesn’t know for sure whether the justice attended the meals, because Arizona law doesn’t require justices to disclose gifts that don’t add up to more than $500 a year, even if these perks could have a direct bearing on cases they are deciding.

As the US Supreme Court rolls back long-standing federal protections, leaving such matters to the states, judicial watchdog groups say they are increasingly concerned about ballooning special-interest money influencing state justices. Now a new report has found that thanks to weak financial disclosure laws, many state justices do not have to disclose gifts and perks that they or their spouses receive that could influence their increasingly momentous decisions on issues like abortion rights.

Sorry, but this article is available to active subscribers only. Please log in or become a subscriber.