Arizona GOP Grinchette Trying to block Tax Credits for Charities
A federal judge on Friday blocked the state from cutting off tax credits to those who donate to organizations that suggest their pregnant clients might want to consider an abortion.
Judge Roslyn Silver said the legislation, set to take effect at the end of the month, illegally discriminates among otherwise eligible groups solely because they “express a pro-choice viewpoint.’ But she said those who counsel people against terminating a pregnancy are unaffected.
That, said Silver, is likely unconstitutional discrimination.
Silver’s ruling is not final. In issuing a preliminary injunction, she simply blocked the state from implementing the law while the legal dispute makes its way through the legal system.
But the judge, in her nine-page ruling, made it clear she believe that, when all is said and done, the arguments by the state justifying the distinction are likely to fail.
House Majority Whip Debbie Lesko, R-Glendale, who crafted the legislation, vowed an appeal.