Good news, but the legal fight is far from over.
The state of Alabama cannot prosecute groups that help people leave the state for an abortion, a federal judge ruled late Monday.
The decision — one of the first to explicitly address abortion-related travel — marks a significant victory for abortion providers and supporters. If the case is appealed, which it almost certainly will be, it will go to the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, half of whose members were appointed by President Donald Trump.
If upheld, Alabama’s policy would have violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment and its protection of people’s right to travel, Judge Myron H. Thompson wrote.
The case concerns statements made by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, who threatened to leverage the state’s criminal conspiracy laws to prosecute people or organizations if they help Alabama residents travel elsewhere for an abortion. Marshall has not filed any lawsuits, but the threat has deterred some reproductive health providers from telling patients about options outside of Alabama, which has a near-total abortion ban in place. It has also stopped abortion funds, nonprofits that help cover the travel and medical costs associated with abortion, from supporting them.
That should change, at least for now, said Meagan Burrows, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented two reproductive health clinics among the plaintiffs in the case.
“The court’s decision today should send a strong message to any and all anti-abortion politicians who are considering similar efforts to muzzle health care providers or penalize those who assist others in crossing state lines to obtain legal abortion: Such attacks on free speech and the fundamental right to travel fly in the face of the Constitution and cannot stand,” Burrows said.
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Still, abortion opponents, troubled by the rise in travel, have sought new ways to deter people from seeking care out of state — generally by targeting the organizations and individuals who support them. So far, these legal efforts have not stopped people from traveling for abortions. In Texas, some counties have passed ordinances that would outlaw using a particular road to transport someone out of state for an abortion, but this kind of ordinance is difficult to enforce and has not directly resulted in any lawsuits.
Some opponents have also attempted to use legal filings as an intimidation tactic, using them to seek information about abortion funds and other individuals who help people travel. Funds have challenged these efforts in court and refused to comply.
The Texas legislature is also debating a bill that would criminalize giving people money they could use to travel out of state for abortions, a provision aimed at abortion funds.
Idaho and Tennessee have passed laws targeting abortion-related travel for minors by threatening prison time for those who help them leave the state if they don’t have a parent’s consent. In December a federal appeals court allowed Idaho’s law to take effect; Tennessee’s has been blocked by a separate judge.
This is one ruling, in a judicial circuit that doesn’t include Texas, but it’s still important. Obviously, there’s a long way to go, and with the Lege considering bills that could greatly widen the scope of abortion prosecutions and enable further attacks on abortion funds and abortion pills, you have to expect a case will eventually come to the Fifth Circuit. For now, it’s good to have the points on the board. Going forward, well, you know. Win more elections and all that. Mother Jones has more.