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(Music) This is CN2Go.

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I’m Roxanne De La Rosa…. coming up… how a Texas ruling on an abortion medication affects Arizonans and a Senate bill could change the way police body camera footage is accessed.

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HOST INTRO: A controversial ruling by a Texas judge voided the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. (muh·fuh·pri·stown). The drug is used to help end pregnancy in the first trimester. I looked at the implications for Arizonans.

Arizona providers reassure patients as court cases on abortion medication swirl

DE LA ROSA: Attorney General Kris Mayes issued a statement this week clarifying that Arizona will not be affected by the Texas judge’s ruling. That’s because Arizona is one of sixteen states involved in another case out of Washington regarding the abortion medication.

DE LA ROSA: Mayes issued a statement this week saying, “I want to assure Arizonans that legal access to the drug remains available for providers and patients in this state. I remain firmly committed to fighting for every Arizonan’s right to make personal medical decisions in consultation with their doctor, family and faith.” However, women’s rights advocates are worried about the future of abortion not just in Arizona but across the country. Amy Fitch-Heacock is a spokesperson for Arizonans for Reproductive Freedom.

<< FITCH-HEACOCK: “In Arizona at the moment, nothing changes. Our access to mifepristone is exactly the same as it was last Thursday, and that’s the same case for the nation. Now going forward, does Arizona receive relief because we’re part of that, that initial Washington decision or we are then impacted by a nationwide decision? Nobody knows.”>>

DE LA ROSA: Dr. Jill Gibson is the medical director of Planned Parenthood Arizona. They held a press call this week and Gibson says one of the biggest impacts on patients is confusion about the safety of the drug.

<< GIBSON: “I think patients are again really confused they don’t understand why if there is good scientific evidence for safety and efficacy of a medication, the federal government would come in and tell a doctor how to practice medicine.”>>

DE LA ROSA: Fitch-Heacock feels the priority isn’t about the safety of the drug noting mifepristone has been on the market for 23 years and is considered safer to use than Tylenol by medical experts. She says it’s about giving everyone access to health care.

<< FITCH HEACOCK: “Abortion is health care. That is something that has continued to happen for as long as there have been pregnant people in the world, we have had abortion. And we clearly know that mifepristone is safe. We have 23 years of evidence that it is safe. In this case, again, this is to create a disruption in health care. It puts more physicians at risk, more clinics at risk and certainly more pregnant people at risk.” >>

DE LA ROSA: However, Cathi Herrod with the Center for Arizona Policy says the Texas decision is all about safety for women who receive medical abortions.

<< HERROD: “Women who take abortion medication one in five of those women will need follow-up medical care. So the premise of the lawsuit from Texas is that the Food and Drug Administration did not follow the science and it’s time the F-D-A followed the science and protect women’s health and safety.” >>

DE LA ROSA: On Monday, Attorney General Mayes’ office joined 23 other states and the District of Columbia to file a brief in opposition of the Texas ruling. Roxanne De La Rosa … Cronkite News…

Lawmakers debate bill to put a price tag on police body-camera footage requests

HOST INTRO: For years, body-camera footage has been used to hold police officers accountable. This will NOT change but what will is HOW this footage is accessed. Cronkite Reporter Amber Victoria Singer has more.

SINGER It’s common for police departments to redact, or remove, certain parts of officer’s body camera footage. This can take hours and get pretty expensive. Senate Bill 1148, introduced by Republican Senator John Kavanagh, would allow police departments to charge more money for the costs.

<< KAVANAGH: One of the biggest expenses in these public records requests is redaction. Because there are certain things that have to be redacted, like attorney client privilege, images of juveniles, images of domestic violence witnesses.>>

SINGER: Although Phoenix’s police department had a budget of about eight hundred fifty million dollars last year, Kavanagh says that this will take the burden of redacting expenses off taxpayers and move it onto the individual people or news organizations requesting footage. The fee would not apply to victims of crimes. The cost to obtain the footage would be dependent on three things: one, the cost of making a copy and redacting parts of the video; two, the hourly pay rate of a public records employee; and three, any other relevant information. Democratic Senator Juan Mendez expresses concern on what counts as other relevant information.

<< MENDEZ: I’m afraid of this being turned into like … a piggy bank or a cash cow type of thing.>>

SINGER: And Kavanaugh admits to being quote “hazy” on exactly what “other relevant information” would be. He also doesn’t know how much it would actually cost to obtain body camera footage under this bill. The bill was last discussed at the end of March at the House Democratic Caucus. Representative Marcelino Quiñonez [keen-YO-nez] raises another potential issue.

<< QUIÑONEZ: Mr. Chair, members, these fees might dissuade members from requesting these video recordings. >>

SINGER: SB1148 passed through the senate with bipartisan support – 19 yeses and 10 nos. If it gets through the House, it’ll be up to Governor Katie Hobbs to decide whether or not to sign the bill into law. For Cronkite News in Phoenix, I’m Amber Victoria Singer.

HOST: We had help today from Roxanne de la Rosa and Amber Victoria Singer…

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HOST: You can learn more about the stories you heard in today’s news update, by going to cronkite-news-dot-a-z-p-b-s-dot-org.

That’s all for your Cronkite News 2 Go. I’m Roxanne De La Rosa.

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