Alabama can't prosecute groups who help women travel to get an abortion,
federal judge says
[April 01, 2025]
By KIM CHANDLER
MONTGOMERY, Ala, (AP) — Alabama’s attorney general cannot prosecute
people and groups who help Alabama women travel to other states to
obtain abortions, a federal judge ruled Monday.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson sided with an abortion fund and
medical providers who sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall after
he suggested they could face prosecution under anti-conspiracy laws.
Thompson’s ruling declared that such prosecutions would violate both the
First Amendment and a person’s right to travel.
Marshall has not pursued any such prosecutions. However, he said he
would “look at closely” whether facilitating out-of-state abortions is a
violation of Alabama’s criminal conspiracy laws. The ruling was a
victory for Yellowhammer Fund, an abortion assistance fund that had
paused providing financial assistance to low-income people in the state
because of the possibility of prosecution.
Alabama bans abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no exceptions for
rape and incest.
“It is one thing for Alabama to outlaw by statute what happens in its
own backyard. 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,′ Thompson wrote in
the 131-page opinion.
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Protesters for women's rights hold a rally on the Alabama Capitol
steps to protest a law passed the week before making abortion a
felony in nearly all cases with no exceptions for cases of rape or
incest, Sunday, May 19, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch
Dill, File)
 Thompson said it would be the same
as the state trying to prosecute Alabamians planning a Las Vegas
bachelor party since casino gambling is also outlawed in the state.
Yellowhammer Fund, an obstetrician and others had filed lawsuits
seeking a court declaration that such prosecutions are not allowed.
“Today is a good day for pregnant Alabamians who need lawful
out-of-state abortion care,” Jenice Fountain, executive director of
Yellowhammer Fund, said in a statement. “The efforts of Alabama’s
attorney general to isolate pregnant people from their communities
and support systems has failed.”
A spokesperson for the Alabama attorney general's office said i,
"the Office is reviewing the decision to determine the State’s
options.”
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