Wyoming Bans Medication Abortion, Limiting Access to Reproductive Care

On Friday, March 17, 2023, Governor Mark Gordon signed an act prohibiting medication abortions in Wyoming. While Wyoming is already a red state with only one clinic providing abortions, this further limits reproductive care access.

The act, titled SF-0109 Prohibiting Chemical Abortions, prevents anyone from prescribing, dispensing, distributing, or selling any medication intended for an abortion. Individuals who provide medication abortion or pills intended for a medication abortion will face six months in prison, a $9,000 fine, or both.

While patients are not penalized, healthcare professionals will face the repercussions. Despite the conservative agenda pushed by this act, it clarifies that “a woman upon whom a chemical abortion is performed or attempted shall not be criminally prosecuted.”

Additionally, the act exempts prosecution for pills prescribed before conception, to treat a miscarriage, or as a life-saving measure. The law will also allow exemptions in cases of incest or rape.

Although life-saving measures are mentioned as an exception to the rule, the language clarifies that it only accounts for physical danger. Psychological or emotional threats resulting from pregnancy will not be considered an exception to the law, negating the psychosocial pressure associated with pregnancy, delivery, and infant care.

Beyond this separate act criminalizing pills used for abortion, the state has another new act, titled Life Is a Human Right Act, that prohibits all abortions, making it a felony offense — punishable by five years in prison, a $20,000 fine, or both — to provide any abortion, regardless of gestational age.

Giovannina Anthony, MD, OBGYN at Wyoming’s only abortion clinic, told the New York Times, “The impact of that legislation not only infringes on our constitutional rights, it actually causes harm. Criminalizing evidence-based medicine is really what this boils down to, and that, in the end, honestly, will lead to maternal deaths and horrible outcomes for both mothers and babies.”

The act has left many physicians fearing the ramifications of providing basic reproductive healthcare. Although contraception before conception is legal, there is no way to know how clinicians will react and monitor contraceptive medicines for fear of ramifications.

These new acts validate concerns about national access to abortion medication as healthcare professionals await a decision by a Texas Judge that may reverse the FDA approval of mifepristone.

One silver lining is that healthcare professionals are not cowering away from their tireless fight for reproductive justice. Instead, providers like Anthony have filed lawsuits against the unjust abortion bans. Additionally, cases have been filed to ease guidelines for mifepristone prescribing. Leaders in some states have also banded together to develop the Reproductive Freedom Alliance.

Evidence-based medicine has continually shown that limited access to reproductive care results in adverse healthcare outcomes. Laws banning abortion neglect a person’s right to bodily autonomy and put them at high risk for unfavorable health conditions. As the never-ending fight for reproductive freedom continues, it is critical to consider the scientific evidence supporting the right to reproductive independence.