Laramie-backed abortion bill dies in committee
The bill would have prevented the state from banning abortion in cases of rape or incest. Two unrelated anti-abortion rights bills are still in play.
A legislative attempt by Teton and Albany County Democrats to halt the backslide of abortion rights in Wyoming died in committee this week, missing the deadline to be heard.
House Bill 117 was sponsored by Jackson Rep. Mike Yin (HD-16) and co-sponsored by three of Albany County’s six legislators. It aimed to keep abortion explicitly legal in cases of rape, incest or life-threatening complications.
The failed proposal did not guarantee the complete protection of abortion rights — the position most of the bill’s sponsors would have likely preferred in a vacuum — but aimed to bring abortion protection debates back to a more neutral ground now that Wyoming’s “trigger ban” and other efforts threaten to eliminate abortion rights entirely.
For nearly 50 years, the U.S. Supreme Court case known as Roe v. Wade enshrined abortion protections nationwide — effectively prohibiting states from outright banning abortion even if they wanted to. But several states, including Wyoming, passed “trigger bans” — laws that would go into effect and ban abortion upon the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, thus activating Wyoming’s “trigger ban.” However, that ban is currently being challenged in the courts, and as that challenge makes its way through various hurdles, abortion remains legal.
In the wake of this, the current legislative session has seen an influx of abortion-related bills. Two in particular seek to further restrict abortion rights.
House Bill 152 - “Life is a Human Right” Act
House Bill 152 Life is a Human Right Act, and Senate File 109 Prohibiting Chemical Abortion aim to go beyond the trigger ban by imposing further restrictions to abortion access.
House Bill 152 is co-sponsored by two of Albany County’s own — Rep. Ocean Andrews (H-46) and Sen. Dan Furphy (S-10).
If passed, House Bill 152 would criminalize the practice of abortion in all forms except when the health of the mother is in danger — as determined by a medical physician. Performing an abortion would net the doctor up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $20,000, or both.
Licensed medical professionals would also see further penalties with the removal of their Wyoming medical license pending “due process in accordance with the rules and procedures of the state board of medicine.”
The bill has passed in the House with a 46-16 vote and will now head to the senate.
Senate File 109 - Prohibiting Chemical Abortions
Meanwhile, the Wyoming Senate has also passed its own abortion-restricting proposal, Senate File 109, and has now handed it off to the House of Representatives for further debate and consideration.
If passed by the House and signed by the governor, Wyomingites would no longer be allowed to “manufacture, distribute, prescribe, dispense, sell, transfer or use any chemical abortion drug in the state for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.”
This includes the use of drugs like “mifepristone, misoprostol, mifeprex, mifegyne or any substantially similar generic or non-generic drug or chemical dispensed for purposes of causing an abortion.”
The bill states legal penalties would not be brought down on the pregnant individual who seeks a chemical abortion and would instead hit any medical physician or “other people” involved in procuring the medicine with a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison, a fine of up to $9,000, or both.”
Some exemptions do apply to the ban, as chemical abortion drugs can be administrated legally if the pregnancy is the result of sexual assault or rape. If the physical health of the pregnant individual is determined to be at risk, a chemical abortion pill can be administered, but only if deemed appropriate by medical physicians.
However, the senate file also makes it expressly clear that this exemption cannot be used for “physiological or emotional conditions,” which include the “claim or diagnosis that the pregnant woman will engage in conduct which she intends to result in her death or other self-harm.”
Contraceptive pills like Plan B will not be included in the chemical abortion ban.
Senate File 109 is also co-sponsored by Sen. Furphy and Rep. Andrew. Albany County Sen. Chris Rothfuss (S-09) voted against the bill during its third and final reading in the Senate; he was one of just six senators to oppose the bill.
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Wyoming has more important problems to solve than interfering in a woman's healthcare decisions. How about making sure we all have affordable healthcare to begin with?