A small group of conservative doctors gathered at the Capitol in opposition to Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion proposal, arguing that it will damage health care in Arizona and cause a host of problems at the federal level.

Gov. Jan Brewer forcefully declared that her proposal to expand the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System to hundreds of thousands of new patients is a pro-life plan. As a pro-life governor, she said, she will not sit idly by while people suffer.

Since then, opponents of her plan have taken up the pro-life mantle in the Legislature.

The chairman of the House Commerce Committee said during an informational session Wednesday that the U.S. Environmental Agency is pandering to the far left wing of the Democratic Party as it burdens Arizona with unnecessary regulations.

Once again, Randy Pullen is coming to Gov. Jan Brewer’s defense at a time when she needs allies on the right.Pullen, the former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, penned a letter urging Republicans to support Brewer’s plan to expand Medicaid coverage in accordance with President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

Arizona’s free enterprise-based trauma system would benefit from increased government control and an updated comprehensive plan, according to a recent report by the American College of Surgeons.

The chairman of the Republican Party in Maricopa County rejected a call for him to resign Thursday for comparing Gov. Jan Brewer to Judas because she wants to expand the state’s Medicaid plan, but he said he didn’t mean to disrespect the governor or her office.

The contentiousness of the debate over Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion proposal was on full display during the Legislature’s first public hearing Wednesday, where advocates and proponents debated every facet of the plan.

Grassroots activists who are threatening a political backlash against Republicans who support Gov. Jan Brewer’s Medicaid expansion plan have settled on an initial target. This week, a precinct committeewoman filed the paperwork to challenge Rep. Heather Carter, R-Cave Creek, in next year’s Republican primary.

A proposal by Gov. Jan Brewer to expand the state’s Medicaid plan under provisions of the federal health care overhaul gets it first legislative hearing Wednesday.

A 2014 trial date has been set for a lawsuit by Arizona prison inmates over the quality of health care at the state’s prisons.