Wyoming governor signs bill to ban abortion pills
Wyoming’s ban on abortion pills will go into effect in July pending any legal action that could potentially delay it. The date of entry into force of the radical law to ban all abortions, which Gordon allowed to become law, is not specified in the bill.
With an earlier court-bound ban, abortion currently remains legal in the state until viable, or as long as the fetus can survive outside the uterus.
In a statement, Gordon expressed concern that the latest legislation, dubbed “Life is a human rights law”, would result in a lawsuit that would “postpone any decision on the constitutionality of Wyoming’s abortion ban.”
He noted that earlier in the day, plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit filed a protest against the new law in case it did not veto it.
“I believe this issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible so that the issue of abortion in Wyoming can be finally resolved, and this is best done through a vote of the people,” Republican Gordon said in a statement.
In a statement, ACLU Wyoming advocacy director Antonio Serrano criticized Gordon’s decision to sign a ban on abortion pills, which are already outlawed in a number of states where all forms of abortion are outlawed.
“The health of the individual, not politics, should guide important medical decisions, including the decision to have an abortion,” Serrano said.
Of the 15 states that restrict access to the pill, six require an in-person doctor’s visit. These laws could withstand litigation; states have long had power over how doctors, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals practice medicine.
States also set rules for telemedicine consultations used to prescribe medications. Typically, this means that healthcare providers in states with restrictions on abortion pills could face sanctions, such as fines or license suspension, for trying to mail the pills.
Women are already traveling across state lines to places where abortion pills are easier to access. This trend is expected to increase.
Since the appeal Caviar In June last year, restrictions on abortion were introduced by the states, and the situation quickly changed. Thirteen states now ban abortions at any stage of pregnancy, and another, Georgia, bans them when a heart is detected or at about six weeks pregnant.
Courts have suspended enforcement of abortion bans or severe restrictions in Arizona, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming. Idaho courts forced the state to allow emergency abortions.