Wyoming becomes the first state in the U.S. to prohibit chemical abortions

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - As Gov. Mark Gordon continues to sign legislative bills into law, one of the two abortion bills has garnered national attention.

Making Wyoming the first state in the nation to outlaw medicines used in chemical abortions.

This comes after the Governor signed the newest bill into law that came out of legislation to prohibit these drugs.

Lawmakers initially named four drugs in the bill to prohibit but changed that after pushback from medical professionals fearing it would put pharmacists in the legal cross-hairs.

These drugs, like misoprostol, are used in other medical treatments and would inhibit their use there as well.

So as a remedy, Legislators removed the names of the drugs from the bill, stipulating that any drug used with the intent of causing an abortion was prohibited instead.

”You no longer have the right to decide what you want to do with your body, what you want to do with your family. You have Wyoming law makers butting in to your personal decisions, that you have to make that are not easy to make, that are very difficult and very challenging and nobody makes those decisions lightly,” said Antonio Serrano, Advocacy Director for ACLU Wyoming.

Critics of the abortion bills anticipate they will face instant litigation, keeping abortion in a litigation cycle and making it legal in the state until the cases are decided and funded by taxpayers.

Gordon also said that the bills raised questions about the constitutionality, passing both but only signing off on the Chemical bill.

The Governor, in a statement, proposed that the issue could be brought forward as a constitutional amendment for the public to vote on as to whether they believe abortion is healthcare and a constitutional right or not, moving further questions and litigation out of the courts.

We reached out to Gordon and the Chemical Bill sponsor Sen. Tim Salazar for further comments, and they could not sit with us in time for the broadcast.

Copyright 2023 KGWN. All rights reserved.