Wyoming judge temporarily blocks state ban on abortion pills

The law was to come into force on July 1. It's the only state law that specifically bans the nation's most common method of abortion.

On Thursday, a Wyoming judge temporarily blocked the first state law specifically prohibiting the use of abortion pills, the most common method in the country.

Just over a week before the expected to take effect, Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens granted a temporary restraining order, suspending the law pending further court proceedings.

Ruling from the bench after a hearing that lasted about two hours, Judge Owens said the plaintiffs, who include four health care providers, "have clearly shown likely success on the merits and that 'at least some of the plaintiffs will suffer possible irreparable harm' if the ban were to take effect.

Medical abortion is already banned in states that have quasi bans total, since these prohibitions prohibit all forms of Abortion. But Wyoming became the first state to ban the use of abortion pills apart from a blanket ban. The law was to take effect July 1.

The ban, passed by the Legislative Assembly and signed by Governor Mark Gordon in March, makes it illegal to "prescribe , dispense, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.

Doctors or anyone else found guilty of violating this law would be charged with a misdemeanor, punishable by six months in prison and a fine of 9 $000. The law explicitly states that pregnant women would be exempt from charges and penalties.

In the year since the Supreme Court struck down the state law to abortion, Wyoming's Republican-controlled legislature tried to ban abortions in the state.

Last year, Judge Owens ruled temporarily banned a near-total ban on abortion, which she says appears to contradict an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that guarantees adults the right to make their own health care decisions. An overwhelming majority of Wyoming citizens voted for this amendment in 2012.

In March, the legislature passed another near-total ban on abortions that went into effect without Governor Gordon's signature. This law attempted to circumvent the constitutional amendment by declaring that abortion is not health care. Judge Owens temporarily blocked the law shortly after it was signed, saying she called into question the state's assertion that abortion is not health care.

The question of whether abortion is health care was also an important aspect of Thursday's hearing on the medical abortion ban. Jay Jerde, a special assistant attorney general from Wyoming, argued that while doctors and other health care providers should be involved in abortions, there are many instances where "having an abortion does not involve medical care. health because it does not restore the woman's body from pain”. , physical illness or disease. ”

Judge Owens questioned Mr. Jerde's argument. "Essentially, the government under this law is making the decision for a woman," she said, "rather than the woman making her own choice in health care, which the overwhelming majority of Wyoming has decided we should do."

The plaintiffs in the case, who are challenging all of the bans in various lawsuits, include Wyoming's only two abortion providers; a gynecologist-obstetrician who often treats high-risk pregnancies; an emergency room nurse; a fund that finances abortion patients; and a woman who has stated that her Jewish faith requires access to abortion if the physical or mental health or life of a pregnant woman is in danger.

A ban on medical abortion would have a substantial impact because the pills have been the method used in nearly all recent abortions in the state, plaintiffs' attorney Marci Bramlet told the court. Nationally, the pills are now used in more than half of abortions. Only one of Wyoming's suppliers off...