Judge Blocks Alabama From Prosecuting Groups Aiding Out-of-State Abortions
A federal judge has ruled that Alabama cannot prosecute organizations that help women travel out of state to obtain abortions in order to bypass the state’s strict abortion laws.
Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall had previously threatened legal action against organizations and healthcare providers that assist women in leaving the state for abortions. While Marshall had not pursued prosecutions, he stated he would “look at closely” whether such assistance violated Alabama’s criminal conspiracy laws.
On Monday, US District Judge Myron H. Thompson ruled that such prosecutions would violate both the First Amendment and the constitutional right to travel.
“It is DECLARED that the defendant’s use of the provisions of Alabama’s criminal code to prosecute those who assist individuals seeking to leave Alabama to obtain abortion care in a State where abortion is legal would violate both the First Amendment and the right to travel,” Thompson’s decision stated.
In 2018, Alabama voters approved a measure banning nearly all abortions. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion at any stage of pregnancy became prohibited in the state. In 2022, a lawsuit was filed by the Yellowhammer Fund, an organization that provides financial assistance to women seeking abortions outside Alabama.
Thompson argued that Alabama cannot enforce its “values and laws” outside its boundaries. He compared the situation to Alabama prosecuting residents for planning a trip to Las Vegas since casino gambling is illegal in the state.
“It is one thing for Alabama to outlaw by statute what happens in its own backyard. It is another thing for the state to enforce its values and laws, as chosen by the attorney general, outside its boundaries by punishing its citizens and others who help individuals travel to another state to engage in conduct that is lawful there but the attorney general finds to be contrary to Alabama’s values and laws,” Thompson wrote in his decision.
Following the ruling, a spokesperson for the Alabama attorney general’s office stated that “The office is reviewing the decision to determine the state’s options,” according to a report by The Guardian.
