They Pledged Not to Prosecute Abortions. The Reality Is Tougher
- Some discretion on bringing charges, but bans still pose peril
- Florida state attorney fired after refusing to enforce new law
A woman waits for her appointment to receive an abortion at a clinic in West Palm Beach, Florida, in July.
Photographer: Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
When the US Supreme Court toppled the constitutional right to abortion, some prosecutors in cities and counties across the country vowed to refrain from enforcing new state-imposed bans on the procedure. Such promises may be hard to keep.
Just ask Andrew Warren, the twice-elected state attorney in Hillsborough County, Florida, a state where abortion is now illegal after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In June, after the Supreme Court ruling, Warren joined a group of prosecutors and some state attorneys general in a written pledge not to pursue criminal charges in abortion cases. By August, he was out of a job.