A Wyoming judge suspends abortion clinic regulations while a lawsuit proceeds
Wyoming's only abortion clinic can resume providing surgical abortions after a judge on Monday suspended two state laws.
District Judge Thomas Campbell issued the ruling in a lawsuit filed by Wellspring Health Access and others to challenge the laws. One law requires clinics providing surgical abortions to be licensed as outpatient surgical centers and the other requires women to get an ultrasound before a medication abortion.
Wellspring Health Access stopped providing abortions Feb. 28, the day after Republican Gov. Mark Gordon signed the licensing requirement into law. The clinic has continued to provide hormone replacement therapy for transgender patients.
Gordon vetoed the requirement for an ultrasound at least 48 hours before a pill abortion, calling it onerous in cases of abuse, rape, or when a woman's health is at risk. State lawmakers voted to override the veto March 5.
Opponents call laws like Wyoming's requirements 'targeted restrictions on abortion providers' because they can regulate clinics and abortion access out of existence even if abortion remains legal.
The surgical center licensing requirement would require costly renovations to make Wellspring Health Access compliant, the clinic said in its lawsuit.
The ultrasound requirement did not significantly affect clinic operations but Wellspring Health Access also suspended offering pill abortions to avoid legal complications.
The clinic opened in 2023, almost a year late after heavy damage from an arson attack.
Abortion has remained legal in Wyoming while the same groups and women challenge state abortion bans passed since 2022 that include the first explicit ban on abortion pills in the U.S. Arguments before the state Supreme Court in that case were made April 16 in Cheyenne.
A state district court judge ruled in November that the bans violated the Wyoming Constitution, specifically a 2012 amendment that says competent adults have the right to make their own health care decisions.
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NBC News
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