On Tuesday, advocates for abortion rights working with nonprofit group Wellspring Health Access submitted a revised legal action to halt the implementation of Wyoming’s recent prohibition on abortion pills.
The ban, which was signed into law Friday by Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R), is slated to start on July 1st provided a court does not intervene. This could happen, given that a group hoping to run what would be the second abortion clinic in the state filed an updated lawsuit challenging the new policy.
“Wyomingites deserve access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, including both surgical and medication abortion, and that’s why we are fighting to keep medication abortion legal in Wyoming,” Julie Burkart, president of Wellspring Health Access, reportedly said in a statement.
OANN reported that abortion advocates had previously attempted to block a separate, comprehensive ban on abortion that commenced in the state on Sunday without the governor’s signature.
The lawsuit claims that the new laws surrounding abortion prohibitions are convoluted and do not clearly define was and is not allowed.
It also charges that if the policies are ultimately implemented, “the fundamental rights of Wyoming women and their families will be taken away by the state government and those rights will cease to exist.”
Both of the laws stipulate that there are exceptions in the case of medical emergencies, a threat to the life of the mother, and instances of rape or incest along with a police report.
The Guttmacher Institute, an organization that researches and advocates for legalized abortion, decried the legislation, alleging it “will force people in the state to travel much further to get essential care.”
🚨 #Wyoming's total abortion ban is now in effect & will force people in the state to travel much further to get essential care. Adding insult to injury, WY's governor has signed a bill explicitly banning #MedicationAbortion.
More in our interactive map: https://t.co/mQ1cnvDeES pic.twitter.com/3A2Uc0lBGP
— Guttmacher Institute (@Guttmacher) March 20, 2023
As is seen in the above graphic, there are currently 13 states that have the “Most restrictive” laws against abortion.
Wyoming’s sole abortion clinic in the state, located in Jackson, only offers medication abortions but has canceled appointments after the state law began enforcement this week, reported Fox News. Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens is slated to hold a hearing Wednesday to decide whether or not to halt that new policy over the lawsuit filed against it.
A report by Good Morning America on the new prohibition attempted to at best mislead and at worst outright lie to the American public about the matter, accusing the Wyoming governor of wanting to make receiving an abortion a felony.
The battle over abortion pills. Wyoming became the first state to make the pills illegal.
This comes as Texas (and the nation) braces for a federal judge to possibly overturn FDA approval of the abortion pill.
Florida taking steps to ban abortion at 6 weeks @GMA pic.twitter.com/IGYltmpAk6
— Jaclyn Lee (@JaclynLeeTV) March 19, 2023
This is not at all true. As GMA noted immediately after stating its falsehood, the proposed policy in actuality seeks to give abortion providers up to 5 years in prison for performing the act. This means the doctor who is ending the fetus’ life would be locked up, not the woman receiving the so-called treatment.
