The state of medication abortions in the US

On Friday, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill outlawing the use of all abortion medications, after it was passed by the state’s GOP-controlled legislature last month. This makes Wyoming the first US state to enact an explicit ban on abortion pills.

💊 More details… Starting July 1st, it will be a misdemeanor crime in Wyoming to distribute, sell, or prescribe any abortion medication – though women who seek medication abortions for themselves won’t be criminally prosecuted.

The new law also carves out some other exceptions:

1. Doctors can prescribe medication abortions if they’re necessary to protect a woman from an “imminent peril that substantially endangers her life or health.”
2. Ditto for when medication abortions are needed to treat a "natural miscarriage according to currently accepted medical guidelines."
3. Finally, the measure doesn’t apply to the use of morning-after pills to prevent pregnancy.

🇺🇸 Zoom out: Medication abortions, which account for more than half of all US abortions, have become an increasingly contentious topic in recent months.

• A group of 20 Republican state AGs published a letter in February threatening Walgreens and CVS with legal consequences if they continued to dispense abortion medication in those states.
• And last week, a Texas judge heard arguments in a federal suit that could effectively outlaw mifepristone, one of two pills used in medication abortions – even in states where abortion is legal. The judge’s decision is expected within the next week or two.

+Dive deeper: From the Left | From the Center | From the Right