Petersen wants a promotion: The AZ Senate president who voted to jail doctors is running for AG

Arizona’s Senate President, Republican Warren Petersen, is running to be the state’s next attorney general.

The attorney general is the state’s top lawyer, representing state agencies, protecting consumers, prosecuting complex crimes, handling state appeals, and defending the state’s interests in court. Their stance on any issue matters a lot—it shapes which laws are enforced and which are challenged.

So when it comes to reproductive rights, where does Petersen stand?

Bottom line: Arizona state Sen. Warren Petersen has been a supporter of anti-abortion legislation in his time with the Arizona Legislature.

Fellow Arizona state Sen. Analise Ortiz, a Democrat representing District 24, said she gets the sense that Petersen’s positions on abortion and reproductive rights are “absolutely ideological.”

That’s a clear departure from what Arizona voters have said they want in their leadership.

“[Prop 139] did better than most Republicans in their own districts,” Ortiz said. “Abortion is popular.”

Petersen represents Legislative District 14, covering Maricopa County. That district voted in favor of Prop 139 in the 2024 election, along with the majority of Arizonans.

“He is wildly out of touch with the majority of Arizonans who voted to protect this basic human right,” Ortiz said, of Petersen.

The receipts

Arizona voters approved Prop 139 in November 2024 to protect abortion rights in the state constitution. Despite that, several restrictions are still on the books, and OB-GYNs and the Arizona Medical Association went to court in May to argue that the new constitutional amendment makes those restrictions unconstitutional.

Those laws include:

• Prohibition on abortion pills through telemedicine.
• A mandatory 24-hour waiting period between initial consultation and abortion.
• Outlaw on abortions for fetal genetic abnormalities.
• A mandatory recitation of a government-written script from a doctor.
• Ultrasounds are always required, even when medically unnecessary.

Despite their constituents’ feedback, Petersen and Arizona House Speaker Steve Montenegro have chosen to stand by their personal ideologies when it comes to abortion by defending those restrictions in court.

“Even though voters passed Prop 139, there are still 40 restrictions that make it harder,” Ortiz said. “If [Petersen] becomes AG, he will make sure they remain the law of the land.”

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Greg Como heard three days of testimony in November, and indicated he may issue a ruling that permanently blocks these restrictions. As of early December, he hasn’t made his decision.

READ MORE: In Tucson, Republican Juan Ciscomani is portrayed as a grinch “who store healthcare”

If the judge rules in favor of the doctors, the restrictions would be struck down and Arizonans would have abortion rights more aligned with what they voted for with Prop 139.

This isn’t the only time Petersen has appeared in court to block abortion rights. In 2024, he joined a lawsuit to uphold a Civil War-era abortion ban in Arizona.

The Arizona Supreme Court upheld that 1864 ban, but it was later overturned by the Arizona Legislature. Petersen voted against overturning the law, which would have made abortion almost entirely illegal and require 2-5 years in prison for anyone who assisted in an abortion.

The Copper Courier found that Petersen also voted for SB1164 in 2022—a bill that then-Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law. It brought Arizona’s abortion limit down to 15 weeks.

HB 2427 was an attempt to redefine personhood in Arizona law, giving fetuses similar rights as people.

Petersen voted in favor of that bill.

It’s not just abortion he’s opposed—he’s pushed against bills introduced by Democrats that would legally protect contraceptives. Petersen told the Arizona Mirror that his constituents weren’t concerned about contraceptives.

“It’s not just about abortion. It’s clear he wants to control every aspect of a person’s reproductive rights,” Ortiz said.

Indeed, in 2024 Petersen told the Arizona Mirror, “Our constituents are not asking about contraceptives,” after voting against two bills to safeguard contraceptive access in the state.

“[Petersen as AG] should terrify everyone who voted for Prop 139,” Ortiz said. “If Warren Petersen is AG he will make it harder to access abortion.”