Wyoming Republican Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill Friday banning the use or prescription of abortion pills, making it the first state to ban the drugs.
The legislation was passed by the state’s GOP-controlled legislature earlier this month.
The bill includes a provision that makes it illegal to “prescribe, supply, distribute, sell, or use drugs for the purpose of obtaining or performing an abortion.”
Morning-after pills, a contraceptive used shortly after sex but before a woman can confirm her pregnancy, are exempt from the ban.
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Wyoming became the first state to ban abortion pills. ((AP Photo/Allen G. Breed, File))
There are also exceptions when treatment is necessary to protect a woman “against an imminent danger significantly endangering her life or health” or for “natural miscarriage according to currently accepted medical guidelines”.
People who violate the new law will be punished with up to six months in prison and a fine of up to $9,000.
A woman “who has had a chemical abortion performed or attempted will not be prosecuted,” the order said.
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Wyoming Republican Governor Mark Gordon signed into law Friday banning the use or prescription of abortion pill drugs. (Rhianna Gelhart/The Wyoming Tribune Eagle via AP, File)
Gordon said he also allowed a separate bill banning abortion procedures to pass without his signature. The measure, passed by state lawmakers, prohibits the procedure, except when necessary to protect the mother’s health and life, in cases of rape or incest or to terminate a pregnancy where doctors determine there is a fatal defect. of the fetus.
There have been a number of legal problems in the US regarding abortion laws since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in June. The Supreme Court decision allowed states to make their own laws about access to abortion.
There have been a number of legal problems in the US regarding abortion laws since the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in June. (Joshua Comins/Fox News Digital)
Gordon acknowledged that access-to-abortion supporters challenging Wyoming’s “trigger” abortion ban after it went into effect following the reversal of Roe v. Wade have filed a lawsuit to pre-emptively block the new law on abortion pills.
Reuters contributed to this report.