Filed Date: April 7, 2014
Closed Date: May 17, 2016
Clearinghouse coding complete
On April 7 2014, Planned Parenthood of Arizona filed suit against the state of Arizona's Department of Health Services seeking to block the enforcement of a Arizona state law whose language they alleged would have forced doctors to offer obsolete medication abortion and would have severely restricted the use of medication abortion in the state. Planned Parenthood was represented by local Arizona counsel and it sought declaratory and injunctive relief. Planned Parenthood filed suit in the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County, where the case was assigned to Judge J. Richard Gama.
The law being challenged required the Director of Arizona’s Department of Health Services to adopt rules requiring “that any medication, drug or other substance used to induce an abortion” be “administered in compliance with the protocol that is authorized by the [FDA] and that is outlined in the final printing labeling instructions for that medication, drug, or substance.” The law also exempted the Department of Health Services from the state’s rule making requirements for two years after the statute’s effective date. Because misoprostol, one of the most common medications in an abortion regime, was approved and labeled by the FDA for the treatment of stomach ulcers this law would have severely restricted the medication abortions available to Arizona women.
Planned Parenthood challenged the law under Arizona state and constitutional law, claiming that it violated the Arizona Constitution, which forbids the legislature from relinquishing its authority to make state law, and also that the Arizona Department of Health violated its own rulemaking procedures when it drafted regulation interpreting the law.
On October 15, 2015, the Arizona Trial Court blocked the law, ruling that it was an unconstitutional abdication of the Arizona legislature’s obligation to make state law because the rulemaking authority delegated to the Department of Health Services constituted a changeable standard. On May 17, 2016, the Governor of Arizona signed a new law which effectively repealed the statute being challenged.
Judgment was entered on September 20, 2016.
This case is closed.
Summary Authors
Daria Wick (2/11/2025)
Last updated Aug. 30, 2023, 1:29 p.m.
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Healthcare Access and Reproductive Issues
Key Dates
Filing Date: April 7, 2014
Closing Date: May 17, 2016
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Planned Parenthood Arizona is a health care provider in Arizona which provides reproductive and sexual health services.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Non-profit NON-religious organization
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
State
Arizona
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Other Dockets:
Arizona state trial court CV2014-006633
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed
Relief Granted:
Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement
Source of Relief:
Amount Defendant Pays: $160,000
Issues
Medical/Mental Health Care:
Reproductive rights:
Reproductive health care (including birth control, abortion, and others)
Case Summary of Planned Parenthood Arizona v. Humble, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/43477/ (last updated 2/11/2025).