In some states with abortion restrictions, Republican attorneys general could intercede to bring abortion cases even if local prosecutors refuse. In Texas, where district attorneys in five of the state’s most populous counties have said they will not “criminalize personal health care decisions,” a Republican legislator has proposed a law that could empower conservative rural prosecutors to charge urban residents for violating Texas’ abortion laws.

Other schisms are erupting between neighboring cities and counties.

In Michigan, abortion providers could soon face felony charges under an abortion ban that has remained on the books since 1931. But Karen McDonald, the Oakland County prosecuting attorney, said the law was useless and antiquated, comparing it to old statutes banning cows running at large. She said she would not enforce an abortion ban…

But next door in Macomb County, Prosecutor Peter Lucido, a Republican, has said publicly that he would enforce the ban if it is upheld in court. The law has been suspended by a state judge after challenges from abortion rights groups.