A federal judge on Monday rejected a lawsuit challenging the Alabama attorney general’s threat to prosecute people who helped travel out of state for abortions, paving the way for the case to move forward.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson In Monday’s preliminary ruling, A lawsuit filed by the Yellowhammer Fund, a group that helps people in the Deep South who need out-of-state abortions, says it can proceed, and Attorney General Steve Marshall’s (R) threat is an illegal threat to the organization. They claim that it has a chilling effect. freedom of expression.
The group claims it was forced to shut down its abortion fund for fear of prosecution. Alabama banned nearly all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.
Mr Marshall last year threatened to prosecute those who “aid and abet” abortions, causing confusion among health workers and groups such as the Yellowhammer Foundation. This “increased the sense of fear and anxiety of Plaintiffs and pregnant women alike,” the groups wrote in the complaint.
Thompson’s decision was in response to Marshall’s motion to dismiss the case, pointing to his constitutional right to travel.
“Thus, the plaintiffs here argue that the attorney general cannot constitutionally prosecute actions within the state that are intended to promote lawful activities outside the state, including abortion,” Thompson wrote in his ruling. He correctly claims that.”
“The Constitution protects the right to cross state lines and perform lawful acts such as obtaining an abortion in another state,” he added. “The Attorney General’s definition of the right to travel as simply the right to physically travel between states is contrary to history, precedent, and common sense.”
In a related lawsuit, a group of health care providers, led by the ACLU of Alabama, was also charged with explicitly threatening health care providers with felonies if they helped an Alabama resident attempt to travel out of state to obtain an abortion. , sued Mr. Marshall.
“Today’s ruling requires anti-abortion politicians to clearly violate the Constitution by denying pregnant women in ban states the help they need to access legal out-of-state abortion care. It sends a strong signal,” said senior official Megan Burrows. Attorneys with the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project said in a statement.
The Hill has reached out to Marshall’s office for comment.
Since the organizations filed two lawsuits last July, the state Supreme Court has ruled that frozen embryos are children and, therefore, those who destroy them can face the death penalty. A bitter battle over reproductive rights continued in the state.
Most IVF services in the state had been suspended, but lawmakers quickly passed legislation addressing civil and criminal liability for IVF providers, prompting some providers to resume services. Ta.
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