PHX Reporter

The Phoenix City Council has voted to officially oppose the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the case of Roe v. Wade, and to tell local police to lower the priority of calls relating to the violation of abortion laws.

The council voted 6-2 to oppose the Roe ruling, which also condemns existing state laws that ban abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy and the near-total ban instituted in 1864, pre-statehood days, according to a story by Fox 10. The vote also ordered police to "de-prioritize" abortion-related crimes.

"We have a huge amount of challenges before our city," Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said in the story. "This says we're going to focus on issues such as gun crime, not on arresting doctors, nurses and pharmacists. By a 6-2 vote, the Phoenix City Council has set our priorities to women's reproductive health."

Authorities said the "de-prioritization" of abortion crimes means that any call regarding abortion law violations will result in a conversation about how to proceed.

"Typically, when a law or policy is put into place that may affect police operations, leadership, including the law department determine how/if our personnel should adjust our processes," Phoenix police said in the story. "This is then communicated to our personnel so they have guidance on any impacts to their duties." 

On Twitter, Gallego praised the vote, calling it a victory for women's rights.

"The people of Phoenix share a core value, the right to make their own personal decisions," she said in a tweet. "The Phoenix City Council and I honored that by passing a resolution declaring opposition to the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson criminalizing abortion."

Gallego said in a tweet that she would not criminalize people for doing their jobs.

"With this resolution, the investigation of medical personnel providing abortion services is deprioritized," she tweeted. "Instead, I ask [the Phoenix Police Department] to focus on greater areas of need such as gun violence."

She said Phoenix has a right to take action.

"I stand with my fellow councilmembers who support the constitutional rights of pregnant residents, including access to reproductive health care," she tweeted.