logo
New laws complicate Wyoming's abortion situation as bans set to be argued in state Supreme Court

New laws complicate Wyoming's abortion situation as bans set to be argued in state Supreme Court

CNN13-04-2025

When a Wyoming woman phoned the state's only abortion clinic recently to make an appointment to end her pregnancy, she received news that complicated her life even more.
Wellspring Health Access had stopped providing abortions that same day, responding to a slew of new requirements for the Casper clinic to become a licensed surgical center.
'It was kind of really bad timing on my part,' said the woman, who declined to be named because of abortion's stigma in her community.
Though abortion remains legal in Wyoming, it has become increasingly difficult because of new requirements for abortion clinics and women seeking abortions. In this case, the woman had to go to Colorado, which partially borders southern Wyoming.
On Wednesday, the Wyoming Supreme Court is set to hear arguments over state abortion bans that a lower court judge has suspended and struck down as unconstitutional. But even if the state high court agrees with those rulings, access to abortion in Wyoming stands to remain uncertain.
One new law targets Wellspring Health Access as Wyoming's only abortion clinic, requiring licensure as an outpatient surgical center at a cost of up to $500,000 in renovations, according to the clinic.
The law also requires the clinic's physicians to get admitting privileges at a hospital within 10 miles. A hospital three blocks from the clinic is under no obligation to admit its doctors, however.
'This is an abortion ban without banning abortion,' said Julie Burkhart, founder and president of Wellspring Health Access.
A second new law requires women to get ultrasounds at least 48 hours before a medication abortion, costing them $250 or more plus gas money and travel time in a state where ultrasounds are unavailable in many rural areas.
The Wyoming Legislature is well within its rights to regulate abortion to protect women from even the small chance of an abortion mishap, argued an attorney for the state, John Woykovsky, at a recent court hearing on the new laws.
In most cases, a transvaginal ultrasound is required to obtain a fetal image in the earliest stages of pregnancy, when most abortions are done. That invasiveness, especially for victims of rape and abuse, caused Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, to veto the ultrasound bill a few days after he signed the surgical center requirement into law Feb. 27.
The Republican-dominated Legislature overrode his veto, leading Wellspring Health Access, the Wyoming abortion access advocate Chelsea's Fund and others to sue over it and the licensing law.
Meanwhile, the legal uncertainty caused Wellspring Health Access, which opened in 2023 after an arson attack delayed the original date by almost a year, to halt both medication and surgical abortions.
Several dozen abortion opponents attended a Tuesday hearing in Casper on whether to suspend the laws while the lawsuit moves ahead. If that happens, clinic abortions will resume, to the dismay of opponents, said Ross Schriftman, president of the local Wyoming Right to Life chapter.
'No inspections, no confirmation of whether the people committing the abortions are licensed doctors for Wyoming and no continuity of care to the hospital,' Schriftman said by email.
A former Wyoming resident who, in 2017, got an abortion in neighboring Colorado, her closest option at the time, sympathized with rural Wyoming women seeking abortions now.
'God forbid it's the winter,' said Ciel Newman, who now lives in New Mexico. 'Wyoming's a huge, rural state without much interstate coverage.'
The amount of business at Wellspring Health Access shows that the lawmakers who passed the abortion laws are out of step with their constituents, Burkhart said.
'We have had people coming in our doors each and every week that we've been open,' Burkhart said. 'If people who come from Republican states, or more traditional-leaning states, didn't approve of abortion, we would go out of business because people just wouldn't show up.'
In the case about to be argued before the state Supreme Court, the same groups and women are suing over laws banning abortion that Wyoming has passed since 2022. They include the first explicit ban on medication abortions in the US.
In November, a judge in Jackson ruled the bans violated a 2012 constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of competent adults to make their own health care decisions.
Even if the justices agree, Wellspring Health Access stands to suffer. Before the new laws, the clinic saw as many as 22 patients a day, 70% of whom were there for abortions: half surgical, half by pills.
Now, Wellspring Health Access doesn't offer abortions and sees about five patients a day, all of whom are transgender people receiving hormone replacement therapy, according to the clinic.
Twenty-three other states, including 14 that have not totally banned abortion, have passed requirements similar to Wyoming's that opponents call 'targeted regulation of abortion providers,' or TRAP, laws. Surgical center licensing and hospital admitting privileges are typical requirements, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that advocates for abortion access.
Few states have passed TRAP laws since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, but abortion remains an unsettled issue in several. A licensing law in Missouri stood to curtail abortions until it was blocked by a judge, pointed out Kimya Forouzan, state policy advisor for the Guttmacher Institute.
'They still have a major impact on the ability to provide care,' Forouzan said in an email.
The Wyoming woman recently seeking a surgical abortion at Wellspring Health Access had to drive more than twice as far from her hometown, more than four hours each way, to have the procedure at the Planned Parenthood in Fort Collins, Colorado.
'Even though I support abortion fully, it's not something that I thought I personally would ever do,' the woman said, adding that Wellspring Health Access helped cover her costs.
'It was a humbling experience,' she said. 'It just gave me a lot more compassion for people who have experienced abortions as well as people who aren't able to take that route.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

West Nile virus detected in Orleans Parish mosquitoes
West Nile virus detected in Orleans Parish mosquitoes

Yahoo

time8 hours ago

  • Yahoo

West Nile virus detected in Orleans Parish mosquitoes

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Mosquitoes on the New Orleans east bank tested positive for the West Nile virus Sunday, June 8. According to officials from the New Orleans Mosquito, Termite and Rodent Control Board, mosquitos collected from the east bank of Orleans Parish tested positive for the West Nile virus. Officials said the samples indicate that the virus is circulating among mosquito and bird populations. No human cases have been reported in Orleans Parish this year. Man killed in Central City stabbing The NOMTRCB will conduct spray missions by helicopter Sunday, June 8 from 7:45 p.m. to 12 a.m. They will target Anthony, Filmore, Gentilly and the St. Bernard area bounded by Lakeshore Dr. I-610, Bayou St. John and Music Street. According to officials, most West Nile infections are asymptomatic. However, common symptoms include headache, body aches, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea and rash. In rare cases, severe illness can occur. West Nile and other mosquito-borne viruses are more active in the summer and early Johnson teases follow-ups to the 'one big, beautiful bill' Hemi power: Ram plans return to NASCAR in 2026 with Truck Series entry. Cup Series could be next Texas Republican says LA 'tip of the iceberg,' deportations 'about to go way up' Heat Advisory & Isolated Thunderstorms continue for Sunday West Nile virus detected in Orleans Parish mosquitoes Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Biden should've been given multiple cognitive tests while in the White House, Obama's doctor says
Biden should've been given multiple cognitive tests while in the White House, Obama's doctor says

New York Post

time2 days ago

  • New York Post

Biden should've been given multiple cognitive tests while in the White House, Obama's doctor says

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden's doctor should've made him undergo multiple neurocognitive tests during his presidency, former President Barack Obama's physician told The Post. Jeffrey Kuhlman, who served as Obama's doctor from 2009 to 2013, highlighted in a phone interview Saturday how Biden — and all politicians over the age of 70 — should be submitted to 'a few hours' of annual mental exams and release those results to the public. 'My position is that a 78-year-old candidate, Trump at the time, an 82-year-old president [Biden] would both benefit from neurocognitive testing,' said Kuhlman, who published a book 'Transforming Presidential Healthcare,' recommending that in November 2024. Advertisement 'Any politician over the age of 70 has normal age-related cognitive decline,' Kuhlman said, pointing out that he's been making the recommendation for nearly a year — and did so in a New York Times op-ed on the day Biden bowed out of the 2024 race. 'If you look at his three physicals that were released as president, Dr. [Kevin] O'Connor wrote five to six pages, single-spaced. He referenced 10 to 20 specialist physicians.' 5 Joe Biden's doctor should've made him undergo multiple neurocognitive tests during his presidency, former President Barack Obama's physician told The Post. Getty Images Advertisement But the tests did not include any neurocognitive work, nor did Biden submit to the Montreal Cognitive Assessment, as Trump did in his first term, a two-minute screening comprising around 30 questions to test for signs of dementia, according to Obama's ex-physician. 'I have no doubt that President Trump aced it,' he said of the test, but said the current White House, in the interest of full transparency, should also release CT scans that were taken after the assassination attempt against the Republican candidate in Butler, Pa., last July. Kuhlman added the Montreal Cognitive Assessment isn't adequate to determine more serious mental slippage, one of the three main areas that medical professionals should be considering when evaluating the president, along with cancer and cardiovascular issues. Memory, reasoning, speed of processing and spacial visualization all begin to decline around the age of 60, he also said. Advertisement 5 Kevin O'Connor served as Biden's doctor during his vice presidency, overlapping with Kuhlman in the White House medical unit. David Lienemann/The White House O'Connor served as Biden's doctor during his vice presidency, overlapping with Kuhlman in the White House medical unit. Kuhlman said he 'respects' O'Connor's 'medical judgment,' but also told The Washington Post: 'Sometimes those closest to the tree miss the forest.' In apparently his only media interview during Biden's term, O'Connor insisted to The Post in July 2024 that the president's cognitive health was 'excellent' — days after being forced out of a re-election bid and replaced by Vice President Kamala Harris due to a dismal debate performance June 27. Advertisement 5 Kuhlman said he 'respects' O'Connor's 'medical judgment,' but also told The Washington Post: 'Sometimes those closest to the tree miss the forest.' Getty Images In a break from his predecessors, Biden's doctor never answered questions from the press in the White House briefing room but submitted annual physical reports that noted some physical ailments without addressing the president's mental acuity, other than to say he was 'fit for duty.' 'The president doesn't need a cognitive test,' claimed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in a February 2024 briefing following what would be Biden's final physical as commander-in-chief. 'He passes a cognitive test every day.' White House visitor logs show the oldest-ever president did submit to evaluation from an expert in Parkinson's disease and 20-year veteran of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Dr. Kevin Cannard, but O'Connor said the January 2024 meeting was part of Biden's annual physical. 'If somebody turns up a report that Kevin Cannard said he has Parkinson's,' said Kuhlman, 'then that's a completely different story, but we have 14 years of Kevin Cannard evaluating him and that's who I would trust.' 5 O'Connor said that was part of his annual physical and ruled out a Parkinson's diagnosis, though other doctors expressed skepticism. American Osteopathic Association O'Connor said that was part of his annual physical and ruled out a Parkinson's diagnosis, though other doctors expressed skepticism. 'I could've diagnosed him from across the Mall,' neurologist Dr. Tom Pitts told NBC in July 2024, pointing to Biden's 'rigidity,' 'shuffling gait' and 'slow movement.' Advertisement Special Counsel Robert Hur, who determined that Biden 'willfully' hoarded classified documents after leaving the Obama White House, chose not to bring charges months earlier that year in February, in part because a jury would view the president as a 'sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.' The Republican-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor on Thursday to appear for questioning about the former president's mental abilities on June 27. 5 The Republican-led House Oversight Committee subpoenaed O'Connor on Thursday to appear for questioning about the former president's mental abilities on June 27. AP Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) in a cover letter accompanying the subpoena suggested the doctor's past 'financial relationship with the Biden family' may have 'contributed to an effort to hide former President Biden's fitness to serve from the American people.' Advertisement Jean-Pierre, who left the Democratic Party and is publishing a tell-all book about the 'broken' Biden administration, is also expected to be hauled in for testimony. Days before a book was set to be published alleging a vast cover-up of his decline during his last two years in the White House, Biden announced that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. The book, 'Original Sin,' notes that O'Connor was reluctant to administer a cognitive test, according to co-authors Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. Advertisement Kuhlman said O'Connor had conducted tests for that kind of cancer between 2009 and 2014 when they served together in the White House, but it may not have been 'worth doing in the next 10 years' based on the findings of that final exam, known as a PSA, in the vice presidency. 'I hope that Kevin O'Connor had that conversation every year with his patient, Joe Biden, and documented that in the medical record,' he said. 'If he did the PSA and chose not to release it, I don't agree with that.'

New bill would mandate 'anti-choking' devices in NYC schools
New bill would mandate 'anti-choking' devices in NYC schools

New York Post

time2 days ago

  • New York Post

New bill would mandate 'anti-choking' devices in NYC schools

Every school in NYC would be required to have 'airway clearance devices' to help prevent choking deaths under a City Council bill gaining bipartisan steam. The legislation sponsored by Bronx Republican Kristy Marmorato would mandate that city schools stock the portable, suction-based devices on site. It already has support from 11 Democrats and four other Republicans, and was expected to be the subject of a public hearing this month. The devices, which can be self-administered and are considered an alternative to the Heimlich maneuver, usually run $50 to $70 each, but Long Island-based LifeVac has offered to supply each Big Apple school with a device and an instructional video on how they work at no charge, according to the company. 3 NYC Councilwoman Kristy Marmorato (R-Bronx) sponsored a bill that would mandate city schools stock 'airway clearance devices' to help prevent choking deaths. James Keivom Heidi Felix, LifeVac's vice president of sales, said the company has already donated more than 10,000 devices to schools nationwide and welcomes doing the same in NYC. There's more than 1,800 public schools and about 900 private schools in the Big Apple. The issue is personal for Marmorato. 3 LifeVac has already donated more than 10,000 devices to schools nationwide and welcomes doing the same in NYC. LifeVac She had a scary incident eight years ago when her then-18-month-old daughter choked on a piece of apple. A trained health care professional, Marmorato was able to save her daughter — but recalled it was a 'very frightening experience.' Her grandfather, Michael Rendino, died three decades ago while choking on a piece of meat at a restaurant after the Heimlich maneuver failed. 3 More than 1,800 public schools and about 900 private schools in the Big Apple would have the life-saving devices under the bill. Monkey Business – 'This is not just about my child,' she said. 'It's about all the children in New York City. Even if one device saves one kid's life, it's tremendous, and it's a win for parents and families.' She said she expects the legislation to be approved,considering it won't cost taxpayers a cent. Albany pols are reviewing similar legislation to require schools statewide to stock 'airway clearance devices.' City Hall spokesman Zachary Nosanchuk said the Department of Education and Mayor's Office will review the legislation, but added 'we continue to train [school] staff to use the Heimlich maneuver' because it remains the 'recommended first-aid technique to save children who are choking.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store