Following a Teton County District Court judge’s decision in November to strike down Wyoming’s abortion bans, some state legislators are trying to push reproductive health services out of reach with medically unnecessary legislation.
The ACLU of Wyoming opposes House Bill 42, legislation that would require clinics that provide surgical abortions to be licensed as ambulatory surgical centers and that doctors performing abortions there have admitting privileges at a hospital not more than 10 miles away, and House Bill 64, legislation that would require any person needing a medication abortion to be shown an ultrasound image of the fetus no less than 48 hours before the abortion could be administered.
“While not banning abortion, these bills are intended to reduce and limit people’s access to abortion in Wyoming,” said Antonio Serrano, ACLU of Wyoming advocacy director. “By imposing regulations that are cloaked in the language of health care and sound technical and bureaucratic to a casual observer, they avoid widespread public scrutiny, but these regulations that would be imposed by these bills won’t make anyone safer.”
House Bill 42
The United States Supreme Court ruled in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, that medically unnecessary restrictions on doctors and clinics, like those House Bill 42, do not improve the health and safety of patients, are unconstitutional and should not be enforced.
Ambulatory surgical centers are health care facilities where surgical procedures that typically don’t require an overnight stay are performed. But abortion is a far safer procedure than those performed at most surgical centers, in part because abortion does not require an incision. Leading medical authorities like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Medical Association have affirmed abortion is one of the safest medical procedures with low complication rates.
Additionally, hospital admitting privileges are unnecessary. There is no medical basis to require abortion providers to have local hospital admitting privileges, according to the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Admitting privileges do not protect patients’ safety. Providers already have plans in case of emergencies, which are extremely rate. Moreover, admitting privileges are simply are a business arrangement between a local hospital and a physician and single out abortion providers. Other doctors do not have to meet these requirements.
“Patient care isn’t the purpose of House Bill 42,” Serrano said. “House Bill 42 is meant to close clinics down by forcing doctors to comply with regulations they can’t – and shouldn’t need – to meet.”
House Bill 64
The requirement that a pregnant person obtain an ultrasound no less than 48 hours before a medication abortion is administered, as stipulated in House Bill 64, provides no health benefit. It only places a substantial obstacle to obtaining an abortion and creates an additional burden for people in rural areas who already must travel to seek health care.
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “most abortion care globally is provided without ultrasound examination.” Because medication abortion is a time-sensitive process, requiring a 48-hour waiting period could force a patient into having a procedural abortion instead.
“Deeply private and personal decisions about abortion should not be made by politicians but be made by pregnant people in consultation with their doctors – who should be able to treat their patients according to their best medical judgement,” Serrano said. “Everyone deserves the right to control their own bodies and to make their own decisions about their lives and futures, free from punishment, judgment, or political interference.”
The House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee voted to advance House Bill 64 on Tuesday and is scheduled to discuss House Bill 42 tomorrow.
About the ACLU of Wyoming
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of Wyoming is part of a three-state chapter that also includes North Dakota and South Dakota. The team in Wyoming is supported by staff in those states.
The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBTQ communities. The ACLU of Wyoming carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of Wyoming.
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