CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — In a unexpected turn of events, Wyoming’s Republican governor has vetoed a bill that aimed to mandate ultrasounds for women seeking medication abortions. Governor Mark Gordon expressed doubts about the reasonableness and necessity of such a requirement, particularly for victims of rape and incest. In a letter elucidating his decision to veto the bill, Governor Gordon highlighted his concerns, stating that the mandate of this intimate, invasive, and often unnecessary procedure exceeded acceptable boundaries.
Advocacy groups supporting abortion access in Wyoming, which became the first state to explicitly attempt to outlaw medication abortions, commended the governor’s veto. This is despite Gordon having signed multiple bills over the last three years seeking to restrict abortion procedures. Christine Lichtenfels, the executive director of the abortion access advocate Chelsea’s Fund, emphasized the importance of ensuring that women can access healthcare services without facing undue burdens.
The bill in question would have compelled women seeking medication abortions to undergo ultrasounds, potentially requiring them to travel long distances in the rural state for these appointments. Although abortion remains legal in Wyoming pending a lawsuit challenging the bans before the state supreme court, access to abortion services has declined. The state’s sole full-service abortion clinic ceased offering both pill and surgical abortions following the enactment of a recent law by Governor Gordon.
Under the new law, clinics providing surgical abortions must be licensed as surgical centers, leading Wellspring Health Access in Casper to suspend all abortion services due to an inability to meet the licensing requirement immediately and concerns about legal implications. Consequently, more Wyoming women are likely to seek abortion services in neighboring states like Colorado where abortion remains legal and accessible.
Julie Burkhart, the president of Wellspring Health Access, praised Governor Gordon’s veto, affirming the clinic’s commitment to supporting patients despite the new restrictions. The clinic continues to receive inquiries from patients seeking abortion services. Wellspring Health Access is among the entities challenging the bans and licensing requirements in court.
The vetoed bill would have imposed additional restrictions on the majority of abortions in Wyoming. Research by the Guttmacher Institute indicates that over three-fifths of abortions in the U.S. were pill-based through formal healthcare channels in 2023, with Wyoming reporting the highest proportion of pill-based abortions that year.
Despite the challenges posed by new laws, abortion medication remains accessible in Wyoming through services like Just the Pill telehealth and online providers such as Abuzz, The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project, and Aid Access, as per information provided by Chelsea’s Fund. A family medicine physician in Jackson, who has been providing abortion medication to Wyoming patients, did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the continuation of these services.
Contributor: Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, played a part in compiling this report.
