Latest news with #YellowhammerFund
Miami Herald
06-05-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
Alabama can't prosecute groups helping patients get abortions elsewhere, judge rules
National Alabama can't prosecute groups helping patients get abortions elsewhere, judge rules People hold signs during a protest against recently passed abortion ban bills at the Georgia State Capitol building, on May 21, 2019, in Atlanta. (/TNS) TNS Reproductive rights groups in Alabama wasted no time resuming their work after a federal judge ruled in early April that the state's attorney general can't prosecute - or threaten to prosecute - people or organizations who help Alabama residents seek an abortion by traveling to another state. One of the plaintiffs, the reproductive justice nonprofit Yellowhammer Fund, wasted no time in returning to one of its core missions: to provide financial support to traveling patients. "The decision came at about 5:30. I think we funded an abortion at 5:45 - because that's how severe the need is, that's how urgent it is that we get back to the work that we're doing," said Jenice Fountain, executive director of Yellowhammer Fund, which advocates for abortion access. On April 2, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether South Carolina can remove Planned Parenthood clinics from the state's Medicaid program. This came just days after Planned Parenthood received notice that the Trump administration wouldwithhold funding from the Title X Family Planning Program for nine of the group's affiliates. "We're just seeing kind of a multiplying of conflicts where we have unanswered questions about the meaning of the First Amendment in this context, about the right to travel in this context, about due process in this context - about these sort of clashing state laws and choosing which one applies," said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California-Davis who specializes in the politics and history of reproductive rights. Alabama has one of the strictest bans on abortion in the country - with no exceptions for rape or incest. The law was approved by the state legislature in 2019 and remained at the ready should Roe v. Wade be overturned. It took effect immediately when the Supreme Court did just that on June 24, 2022, in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organizationdecision. At the time, Yellowhammer Fund was getting about 100 calls a week from people seeking financial help with getting an abortion, Fountain said. For more than two years, the organization has been unable to help such callers. "The thing with the ban was it was so vague that it was incredibly hard to interpret, especially if you weren't a person that was legally inclined," Fountain said. "So the effect that it had, which was its intention, was a chilling effect." During that time, Yellowhammer continued to promote reproductive justice and maternal and infant health through community efforts such as distributing diapers, formula, menstrual supplies, and emergency contraception. Beyond the alarm created by the statutory language in Alabama's abortion ban, fears were stoked by Alabama's attorney general, Steve Marshall, Fountain said. Almost seven weeks after the 2022 Dobbsdecision, Marshall said in a radio interview that groups that assist people seeking an abortion in another state could face criminal prosecution. "There's no doubt that this is a criminal law and the general principles that apply to a criminal law would apply to this, with its status of the Class A felony, that's the most significant offense that we have as far as punishment goes under our criminal statue, absent a death penalty case," Marshall said in the interview with Breitbart TV editor Jeff Poor. "If someone was promoting themselves out as a funder of abortion out of state, then that is potentially criminally actionable for us," Marshall said. Marshall was explicitly referring to such groups as Yellowhammer Fund, Fountain said. "He mentioned the group from Tuscaloosa that helps people get to care, which is Yellowhammer Fund," Fountain said. "He all but '@'d us." Yellowhammer Fund and other abortion rights groups filed the lawsuit against Marshall on July 31, 2023. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama in Montgomery, agreed with them, saying Marshall would be violating both First Amendment free speech rights and the constitutional right to travel if he tried to bring criminal charges. Thompson also warned against overlooking the "broader, practical implications of the Attorney General's threats," in the matter of Alabama trying to enforce laws outside the state. "For example," Thompson wrote in his ruling, "the Alabama Attorney General would have within his reach the authority to prosecute Alabamians planning a Las Vegas bachelor party, complete with casinos and gambling, since casino-style gambling is outlawed in Alabama." Another group involved in the case, WAWC Healthcare in Tuscaloosa (formerly West Alabama Women's Center), also resumed work that had been paused. "We have spent the last few years worried that if we had provided any form of information to patients about where they could access a legal abortion, that that is something that the attorney general might try to prosecute us over," said Robin Marty, WAWC's executive director. Before the Dobbs decision, WAWCprovided abortion as part of its services. It continues to offer free reproductive health care, including prenatal care, contraception, and HIV testing. Clinical staffers at WAWC weren't allowed even to suggest to someone that they could leave the state to get an abortion, Marty said. "There is nothing harder than looking into somebody's face when they are in crisis and saying, 'I'm sorry, I just can't help you anymore,'" Marty said. "That was really wearing on my staff because our job was to provide the best information possible. And to know that we could not give them the full care that they required was heartbreaking." With the ruling, WAWC can now offer "all-options counseling," which includes information on how and where patients can access abortion services in other states, Marty said. "If they do not feel like they are able to continue the pregnancy, we can tell them, 'OK, you are this far along, so you are able to go this clinic in North Carolina, because you're under their limit" for gestational age, "or you can go to this clinic in Illinois because you're under their limit,'" Marty said. "We'll be able to tell them exactly where they can go and even be able to help them with the referral process along the way." The attorney general could file an appeal, but now it's unclear whether his office will do so. Marshall's office did not respond to NPR's request for an interview, but in a statement said, "The office is reviewing the decision to determine the state's options." But legal expert Ziegler said she'd be surprised if Marshall didn't file an appeal, given his office's vigorous defense in the lawsuit. In addition, the potential political costs of pursuing that kind of prosecution may have eased, because states like Texas and Louisiana have already taken legal action regarding out-of-state abortion providers, said Ziegler. On the other hand, the attorney general might not appeal because his office was the defendant in the lawsuit, and he may not want to draw attention to the case, Ziegler said. If Marshall did file an appeal, it would go to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which Ziegler called conservative-leaning. The case could ultimately go to the U.S. Supreme Court, Ziegler said, which may have to weigh in more on abortion-related cases, such as when it temporarily allowed emergency abortions in Idaho in June 2024. "I think the takeaway is that the U.S. Supreme Court is going to be more involved than ever in fights about reproduction and abortion, not less, notwithstanding the fact that Roe is gone," Ziegler said. ____ This article is from a partnership that includes Gulf States Newsroom, NPR and KFF Health News. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Alabama Case That Could Undo the Right To Travel Out of State for an Abortion
Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. When the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, Justice Brett Kavanaugh took the time to reassure Americans that there would be no threat to the right to travel. If a state made it a crime to travel for abortion, Kavanaugh suggested, that would simply be unconstitutional. A major ruling from Alabama this week in a case called Yellowhammer Fund v. Attorney General is a reminder that states are finding more creative ways to limit abortion-related travel, and when a case on the subject ultimately reaches the Supreme Court, the question will be much more complicated than Kavanaugh wanted to believe. The case began shortly after Roe was reversed. Alabama quickly criminalized virtually all abortions in the state, and clinics there pivoted to expand other services. Then, Steve Marshall, the attorney general of Alabama, threatened to prosecute people and organizations who were helping abortion seekers travel out of state for abortion—which some of these organizations planned to do or had done in the past—even to places where the procedure was legal. Several health care providers and an abortion fund filed suit, seeking a declaratory judgment and injunction to establish that Marshall couldn't constitutionally pursue that kind of prosecution. At the heart of the case is the right to travel. The plaintiffs argued that the right, one of the most venerable in our constitutional tradition, involves not only the right to move between states but also the ability to do what is lawful in another state. Marshall responded that the right to travel is much narrower: It protects only the ability to move around between and within states, stopping states from discriminating against nonresidents, and nothing more. District Judge Myron Thompson, a Carter nominee, agreed with the plaintiffs, but it's hard to predict whether conservative judges will reach the same result if Marshall appeals. First, the Supreme Court's conservative supermajority may be swayed by the fact that most past cases on travel involve discrimination against out-of-state residents. For example, states with more generous welfare benefits sometimes created more waiting periods to discourage people from moving to take advantage. The Supreme Court held that this kind of uneven treatment violates the right to travel. But this case is different: It's not about Alabama denying a benefit to someone who had recently moved from elsewhere. It's an effort to burden travel by criminalizing anyone who facilitates travel. It's not clear whether the conservative justices will see this kind of burden as unconstitutional. And to make matters more complicated, Marshall and others like him argue that they have more power to target those who help others travel than abortion seekers who cross state lines themselves. The district court reasoned that the right to travel protected these helpers too: People who don't have a car or lots of resources to pay for travel have to rely on others for support to exercise a right to travel, and criminalizing that support would make the right an illusion for those at the nation's margins. But Marshall may feel confident that conservative judges won't care about this kind of burden, especially if its effects will be felt most acutely by those with the least. He argues that states can impose 'reasonable' burdens on the right to travel, especially if they are advancing other important goals, like protecting fetal life. The Supreme Court has a history of ignoring burdens on rights that stop short of outright criminalization. And the court in Dobbs seemed to assign a lot of weight to the state's efforts to protect fetal life. The district court's ruling in Yellowhammer is also a reminder that there are other ways to stop interstate travel: by limiting what abortion seekers learn about their options in jurisdictions where the procedure is legal. Marshall claimed the authority to charge abortion funds, health care providers, and others with entering into a criminal conspiracy simply by informing patients of out-of-state options or helping them arrange for services elsewhere. Marshall claims that he can punish what looks like speech protected by the First Amendment because it facilitates a crime. He points to a 1949 case called Giboney v. Empire Storage and Ice Company, which held that the First Amendment offered little protection to 'speech or writing used as an integral part of conduct in violation of a valid criminal statute.' The district court thought that Giboney did nothing to help Marshall's case: The speech Marshall targeted was integral to an act that would be legal—or even constitutionally protected—where it would occur. But, again, Marshall may have better odds on appeal. He argues that Alabama made speech about abortion unlawful by making abortion a crime—and that it doesn't matter if abortion seekers ultimately end up terminating their pregnancies somewhere that the procedure is protected. Other conservative states have leaned on the claim that the Constitution offers no protection for crime-facilitating speech. We still can't know how the Supreme Court would react to that kind of argument. The case underscores that stakes in travel cases go beyond the freedom to move from state to state. Conservative attorneys general like Marshall are infuriated by the reality that their citizens can circumvent a state ban simply by going elsewhere. That's why conservative states are looking for ways to project bans beyond state borders. That means making it a crime to help someone plan a legal abortion in another state—as Marshall said he plans to do in this case. Efforts to apply red-state abortion bans beyond state lines don't stop there. There are already efforts underway to prosecute a New York doctor who mailed abortion pills into Louisiana, even though New York constitutionally protects abortion. Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it a crime for an internet service providers to host websites that provide information accessible to Texas residents about abortion. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump vowed to leave abortion to the states. With Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising an investigation of mifepristone, we should be skeptical that he'll keep that promise. But cases like Yellowhammer make clear that it was never going to be possible to leave abortion to the states—especially when Alabama has already declared war on any other state that recognizes reproductive rights.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Federal Judge rules in favor of abortion advocates, against AL Attorney General threats
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) — Even though abortion is illegal in Alabama, officials do not have the right to prosecute women seeking an abortion in a state where it is legal, under their right to travel. Federal Judge Myron Thompson ruled Monday that individuals and groups, including healthcare providers, are protected under that same right. The decision comes after Attorney General Steve Marshall threatened to prosecute anyone who helps a woman cross state lines for the procedure. Florence mom sues man accused of raping teen he checked out of school, says administrators didn't check ID 'At its core, this case is simply about whether a State may prevent people within its borders from going to another State, and from assisting others in going to another State, to engage in lawful conduct there. . .The court now answers no, a State cannot.' Judge Myron Thompson, U.S. District Judge Middle Court of Alabama The ruling stated that Marshall initially made such threats while on a radio talk show. Yellowhammer Fund filed a lawsuit against Marshall after the threats became public. The group is an 'abortion advocacy and reproductive rights organization serving Alabama, Mississippi, and the Deep South'. The group offers funding assistance from donations to individuals who may need help paying for travel for said procedures. Will Alabama lawmakers cut taxes on overtime pay or groceries? Jamila Johnson, Senior Counsel with the Lawyering Project, represented the Yellowhammer Fund in the lawsuit. Johnson told News 19 that Marshall's threats forced the nonprofit to freeze its funds due to fears of prosecution. 'Yellowhammer Fund had to keep its abortion fund dormant for years out of fear that it or its supporters would be criminalized or prosecuted for trying to help people do something that they lawfully had a right to do,' Johnson said. Judge Thompson stated in his ruling that there could be no end to prosecuting legal out-of-state activity that is illegal here at home if Marshall had clearance to do this. Thompson wrote that it opens the door for Marshall to even prosecute those planning to gamble in Las Vegas. 'If Alabama held the power its Attorney General asserts here, it is hard to envision a limitingprinciple besides what the Attorney General personally sees as permissible and impermissible…For example, the Alabama Attorney General would have within his reach the authority to prosecute Alabamians planning a Las Vegas bachelor party, complete with casinos and gambling, since casino-style gambling is outlawed in Alabama.' Judge Myron Thompson, U.S. District Judge Middle Court of Alabama A representative from the Attorney General's office said the state is looking into its options. 'The Office is reviewing the decision to determine the State's options.' Spokesperson, Attorney General's Office The Attorney General's Office can appeal the federal judge's decision. If it does, the case will then be sent to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The ruling in its entirety can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Judge rules Alabama can't prosecute people who help women travel for abortions
A federal judge ruled that Alabama cannot prosecute people or groups who help women travel out of state to get abortions. 'It is one thing for Alabama to outlaw by statute what happens in its own backyard,' U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote in a Monday ruling. '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.' In his 131-page opinion, Thompson handed a win to abortion advocacy groups who sued Alabama's Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) after he previously said he would consider prosecuting any person or organization that 'aids and abets' in an abortion, utilizing the state's criminal conspiracy law. Marshall, who was appointed in 2017, has not, so far, carried out such prosecutions. Thompson offered other scenarios of state overreach in his ruling. 'For example, the Alabama Attorney General would have within his reach the authority to prosecute Alabamians planning a Las Vegas bachelor party, complete with casinos and gambling, since casino-style gambling is outlawed in Alabama,' Thompson wrote. 'As the adage goes, be careful what you pray for.' After the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Alabama's trigger law soon went into effect, making abortion almost entirely illegal in the state. The reliably red state has one of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S., with no exceptions for incest or rape. 'Today is a good day for pregnant Alabamians who need lawful out-of-state abortion care,' said Jenice Fountain, executive director of Yellowhammer Fund, one of the groups that sued the state, in a statement following the ruling. 'The efforts of Alabama's attorney general to isolate pregnant people from their communities and support systems has failed.' A spokesperson for Marshall told news outlets that the 'Office is reviewing the decision to determine the State's options.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
01-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Judge rules Alabama can't prosecute people who help women travel for abortions
A federal judge ruled that Alabama cannot prosecute people or groups who help women travel out of state to get abortions. 'It is one thing for Alabama to outlaw by statute what happens in its own backyard,' U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson wrote in a Monday ruling. '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.' In his 131-page opinion, Thompson handed a win to abortion advocacy groups who sued Alabama's Attorney General Steve Marshall (R) after he previously said he would consider prosecuting any person or organization that 'aids and abets' in an abortion, utilizing the state's criminal conspiracy law. Marshall, who was appointed in 2017, has not, so far, carried out such prosecutions. Thompson offered other scenarios of state overreach in his ruling. 'For example, the Alabama Attorney General would have within his reach the authority to prosecute Alabamians planning a Las Vegas bachelor party, complete with casinos and gambling, since casino-style gambling is outlawed in Alabama,' Thompson wrote. 'As the adage goes, be careful what you pray for.' After the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, Alabama's trigger law soon went into effect, making abortion almost entirely illegal in the state. The reliably red state has one of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S., with no exceptions for incest or rape. 'Today is a good day for pregnant Alabamians who need lawful out-of-state abortion care,' said Jenice Fountain, executive director of Yellowhammer Fund, one of the groups that sued the state, in a statement following the ruling. 'The efforts of Alabama's attorney general to isolate pregnant people from their communities and support systems has failed.' A spokesperson for Marshall told news outlets
