wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed into law a bill to ban abortion drugs in Republican-led states on Friday, calling Life is a Human Rights Act.
It was the first US state to ban the use of abortion drugs.
Wyoming’s Abortion Drugs Act, effective July 1, makes it illegal to “prescribe, dispense, distribute, sell, or use any drug for the purpose of obtaining or performing an abortion.”
By law, a doctor or other person who prescribes drugs and is found guilty of breaking the current law is charged with a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in prison and a fine of $9,000 (£7,387). stipulated to be imposed.
Pregnant patients are exempt from criminal charges and penalties according to law.
“I prayed and acted openly and fervently that these bills become law,” the governor said in a letter to Wyoming’s secretary of state.
The governor also allowed another bill restricting access to abortion to become law without his signature, amid growing control over abortion by Republican states and anti-abortion groups.
The law, which goes into effect on Sunday, bans abortion under most circumstances and makes medical abortion of an unwanted pregnancy a felony.
The latter law, called the Life Is Human Rights Act, will lead to lawsuits that “delay a resolution to the constitutionality of Wyoming’s abortion ban,” Gordon said.
As the Republican camp and states crack down on abortion, preliminary data from a Guttmacher Institute report showed last February that abortions in the United States outnumber abortion drugs in recent years. .
More than 54% of medical abortions performed in the U.S. are via the pill, requiring a two-pill method through 10 weeks of gestation, making this process the most accessible and reliable method has been confirmed. Pregnancy in the US population.
Gordon’s move to block access to abortion drugs comes after a federal judge’s inquiry into Christian groups’ efforts to overturn decades of U.S. approval of the main abortion drug mifepristone. rice field.
Wyoming ACLU Advocacy Director Antonio Serrano denounced Gov. Gordon’s decision to sign the law into law.
“People’s health, not politics, should guide important medical decisions, including abortion decisions,” Serrano said in a statement.
Restrictions on abortion widened significantly after U.S. Supreme Court overturned Law vs Wade Last June, a law that protected abortion rights for nearly 50 years was repealed.
At least 12 states now ban abortion at any point during pregnancy, and another state, Georgia, bans abortion once heart activity is detected or at 6 weeks of gestation. is prohibited.
Courts in Arizona, Indiana, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, and Wyoming are pending the enforcement of abortion bans or severe restrictions. A court in Idaho has forced the state to allow abortions in the event of a medical emergency.
