Bill to outlaw medication abortions passes legislative committee

Physicians, as well as pro-choice advocates, testified against the bill in the Wyoming Senate on varying grounds including that it would make it harder for doctors to treat other patients, like pregnant women not seeking abortions. Those in favor included pro-life advocates and a representative for the Catholic Church. The bill advanced in a 4-1 vote.

“Throughout this country, even in our own state, we have public policy on what we as a society are going to allow within the framework of the right to have an abortion in this country,” Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, the bill’s sponsor, said to introduce the legislation.

He continued, “I believe we as a state in Wyoming have a responsibility to also decide not only what we will and will not allow in the procedures of how you have an abortion, but also what procedures are either dangerous or gruesome.”

Senate Fill 133 outlaws four drugs, which as physicians testified to at the hearing, are really just two drugs with different brand names. Those drugs include: Mifepristone, Misoprostol, Mifeprex and Mifegyne.

The bill makes it a crime to “manufacture, distribute, prescribe, dispense, sell, transfer or use” any of the above drugs “for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.”

If a person violates the law, they could be charged with a felony, sentenced with up to 14 years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine.

Salazar said the state should outlaw the drugs on “cruel and unusual” grounds. He called the drugs “a barbaric death sentence” and said he believed they forced a child to starve.

Doctors testified against that point later in the hearing. The majority of testimony heard Tuesday opposed the bill.

Thirty-one abortions were performed in Wyoming in 2019, according to state data. Statute already bans abortions after roughly 24 weeks, or when the fetus is viable. No state funds can be expended on abortion. And lawmakers have frequently proposed strict record-keeping regarding the relatively infrequent procedures.

One doctor who testified Tuesday explained the four drugs referenced in the bill are the only ones used for medication abortions in Wyoming. That means making them illegal would eliminate the abortions performed here.

Those in favor of the bill included a representative of the Catholic Diocese, Cheyenne-based Deacon Mike Leman.

Leman began by saying he did not oppose the bill on religious views.

“We are not here to impose our religious beliefs on anyone. When we look at that image,” he said, referencing a 4D rendering of a fetus he had emailed the committee members the night prior, “We don’t see a Catholic or a protestant child, we don’t see a Jewish or a Muslim child, or an agnostic or an atheist child. We don’t see a Democrat or a Republican. We see a vulnerable, living human being.”

Leman added he was also opposed to the death penalty and would be supporting legislation to see it repealed.

Wyoming Right to Life president Marti Halverson also testified on behalf of the bill, offering several statements about the dangers of the medications, which Hinkle rebuffed in her testimony.

A handful of community members and other lawmakers also testified in support of the bill.

Opposed to the bill were several doctors, as well as a handful of community members.

“I think we call all agree fewer desired abortions is a good thing, and unfortunately restrictions on abortion have not been shown to reduce demand,” Jackson-based Dr. Katie Noyes said to open her testimony.

Noyes is a family medicine provider in Jackson. She listed multiple concerns with Salazar’s proposal, primarily with his characterization of the science.

The drugs in question are only approved to terminate pregnancies no further along than 10 weeks. At that time, the fetus has not developed a brain or the ability to feel pain, Noyes and Blue both testified. Other physicians and organizations, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, affirm that position.

In short, the drugs don’t cause the fetus to feel pain, Noyes said.

She explained medication abortion is a two-pill procedure, both prohibited by Salzar’s bill. The first bill blocks a pregnancy hormone, which essentially stops the fetus’ ability to grow. The second pill induces contractions in the woman.

Beyond the mischaracterization of the medicine, Noyes worried about what the legislation would do to specifically poor and rural women who would have a harder time traveling to access care outside of the state.

“Let’s protect the Wyoming women we can see and hear and can tell their stories, let’s protect their existing children and their existing families,” she said.

Blue, who for many years was Wyoming’s sole provider of abortions, echoed many of Noyes points. He asked lawmakers to keep such a decision out of the government’s hands.

“This state has always been the stalwart of keeping government out of the lives of people,” he said. “This legislation inserts government into the most intimate part of a woman’s life.”

“Terminations are never a happy choice,” Blue went on. “They are always a difficult choice. It should be a safe choice and a choice women make on their own.”

A Cheyenne-based OBGYN Dr. Rene Hinkle testified that regardless of a person’s stance on abortion, the proposed legislation would make performing other medical procedures difficult.

“My problem with this bill truly is the fact you’re using medications that are used for other purposes and making them illegal,” she said.

She added it will be difficult to differentiate between how medications are used, so some physicians might be afraid to use them when needed for fear of prosecution.

For example, the pills listed in the bill are sometimes used when a woman has a miscarriage. The circumstances medically speaking between a medication abortion and completing a miscarriage for a woman who wanted to carry the fetus to term are identical, Hinkle explained.

It was on these grounds committee chair Sen. Fred Baldwin, R-Kemmerer, the bill’s sole nay vote, opposed the legislation.

“My vote in no way reflects on my pro-life philosophy,” Baldwin, a physician’s assistant, said as he voted. “As we heard in at least one testimony, these drugs are commonly used. And I believe there’s some danger in here for some unintended consequences.”

The remaining four committee members moved to forward the bill as-is to the Senate floor for a debate. It could be joined by a number of other bills hoping to limit access to abortions in Wyoming.