Wyoming governor signs measure banning abortion pills

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed a bill Friday night banning abortion pills in the state and also allowed a separate measure restricting abortion to become law without his signature.

In a statement, Gordon expressed concern that this latest law, dubbed the Life is a Human Rights Act, would result in a lawsuit that would “delay any resolution of the constitutionality of Wyoming’s abortion ban.” .

He noted that earlier in the day plaintiffs in an ongoing lawsuit had challenged the new law in case he did not issue a veto.

“I believe this issue needs to be resolved as soon as possible so that the issue of abortion in Wyoming can finally be resolved, and that’s best done with a vote of the people,” Gordon, a Republican, said in a statement. communicated.

The Wyoming governor’s decision on abortion pills comes after they took center stage this week in Texas, where a federal judge raised questions about a Christian group’s efforts to overturn old US approval. decades of a leading abortifacient drug, mifepristone.

In a statement, ACLU of Wyoming Advocacy Director Antonio Serrano criticized the governor’s decision to sign the law.

“A person’s health, not politics, should guide important medical decisions, including the decision to have an abortion,” Serrano said.

A combination of two mifepristone pills and another drug is the most common form of abortion in the United States

Medical abortions became the preferred method of terminating a pregnancy in the United States even before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the ruling that protected abortion rights for nearly five decades.

Fifteen states already have limited access to abortion pills, including six that require an in-person medical visit. These laws could withstand legal challenges; states have long had authority over how doctors, pharmacists and other providers practice medicine.

States also set the rules for telemedicine consultations used to prescribe medications. Typically, this means that healthcare providers in states with restrictions on abortion pills could face penalties, such as fines or license suspension, for attempting to send pills through the post office.

Women have already crossed state lines to places where access to abortion pills is easier. This trend should increase.

Since Roe’s overthrow last June, abortion restrictions have fallen to the states, and the landscape has rapidly changed. Thirteen states now enforce abortion bans at any time during pregnancy, and another, Georgia, bans it once heart activity can be detected, or at about six weeks gestation.

Courts have suspended enforcement of abortion bans or deep restrictions in Arizona, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah and Wyoming. Idaho courts have forced the state to allow abortions in medical emergencies.