Wyoming becomes first US state to ban abortion pills

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 Mar 09:44

The state aims to move close to implement a pro-life agenda and reach a near total-ban on the procedure.

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon gives the State of the State address to the Wyoming Legislature inside the state Capitol in Cheyenne, Wyoming, on March 2, 2021. (AP)

Wyoming has become the first US state to ban abortion pills as it continues to move toward a "pro-life policy".

The state also put into law legislation considered to be almost a total ban, which prohibits the procedure under most cases.

The state's Governor, Mark Gordon, took further steps "to implement a pro-life policy agenda when he signed a prohibition on chemical abortions today. At the same time, he allowed House Bill 152 - Life is a Human Right Act to go into law," his office said on Friday.

The Life is a Human Right Act, which goes into force on Sunday, subjects its violators to up to five years in prison and a $20,000 fine. However, the Act was introduced as a law in the state after the governor allowed it to pass without his signature.

Gordon expressed concern over the legal battle awaiting the legislation, noting that it could complicate matters more.

"Governor Gordon stressed that if the Legislature wants finality it should put a constitutional amendment before the people and let them decide if they want to add an abortion ban to the state's constitution," the governor's office said.

The pill ban is expected to take effect on July 1 if no delays take place because of legal battles. It outlaws selling, prescribing, distributing or using all drugs for the purpose of abortion, while subjecting violators to up to six months in prison and a $9,000 fine, however, pregnant women would not be charged nor fined.

Last June, the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a law that gives American women the right to abortion. The ruling does not make abortion illegal, but rather returns the United States to the pre-Roe v. Wade era when each state was free on whether or not to disallow it.