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Wyoming Judge Temporarily Blocks State's Ban on Abortion Pills
NYT Gift LinkA Wyoming judge on Thursday temporarily blocked the first state law specifically banning the use of pills for abortion, the most common method in the country.
Just over a week before the ban was scheduled to take effect, Judge Melissa Owens of Teton County District Court granted a temporary restraining order, putting the law on hold pending further court proceedings.
Ruling from the bench after a hearing that lasted about two hours, Judge Owens said that the plaintiffs, who include four health care providers, “have clearly shown probable success on the merits and that at least some of the plaintiffs will suffer possible irreparable injury” if the ban were to take effect.
Medication abortion is already outlawed in states that have near-total bans, since those bans prohibit all forms of abortion. But Wyoming became the first state to outlaw the use of pills for abortion separate from an overall ban. The law was scheduled to take effect July 1.
The ban, passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. 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 up to six months in prison and a $9,000 fine. The law explicitly says that pregnant women would be exempt from charges and penalties.
Just over a week before the ban was scheduled to take effect, Judge Melissa Owens of Teton County District Court granted a temporary restraining order, putting the law on hold pending further court proceedings.
Ruling from the bench after a hearing that lasted about two hours, Judge Owens said that the plaintiffs, who include four health care providers, “have clearly shown probable success on the merits and that at least some of the plaintiffs will suffer possible irreparable injury” if the ban were to take effect.
Medication abortion is already outlawed in states that have near-total bans, since those bans prohibit all forms of abortion. But Wyoming became the first state to outlaw the use of pills for abortion separate from an overall ban. The law was scheduled to take effect July 1.
The ban, passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. 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 up to six months in prison and a $9,000 fine. The law explicitly says that pregnant women would be exempt from charges and penalties.
