STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
A federal court may rule soon on a big question in Alabama - can the state prosecute someone for helping people travel out of state to end a pregnancy? NPR's Elissa Nadworny reports that other states are watching.
KYANDRIA FRANKLIN: WAWC Healthcare.
ELISSA NADWORNY, BYLINE: Every day, people call the WAWC reproductive health clinic in Tuscaloosa, Ala...
FRANKLIN: What kind of an appointment, ma'am?
NADWORNY: ...Unaware that there is a near-total abortion ban in the state. Staffer Kyandria Franklin has to update them.
FRANKLIN: Abortions are illegal in Alabama now, so we don't provide that service anymore.
NADWORNY: Just over two years ago, the clinic performed about half of the state's abortions. Today they offer prenatal care and birth control, among other things. Robin Marty leads the clinic.
ROBIN MARTY: The obvious first question after, can I get an abortion - when you tell them no is, OK, where do I go? And unfortunately for us, that's something that we have not been able to provide information for.
NADWORNY: The reason they say they can't give someone information about traveling for an abortion is because the state's attorney general, Steve Marshall, has made statements suggesting that anticonspiracy laws could be used to prosecute those who assist with appointments or finances. Here's Marshall calling into a talk radio show in 2022. He clarifies that nothing in the law prevents individuals from traveling out of state, but...
(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE JEFF POOR SHOW")
STEVE MARSHALL: Provisions relating to conspiracy would have applicability. So, for example, if someone was promoting themselves out as a funder of abortion out of state, then that is potentially criminally actionable for us.
NADWORNY: And Robin Marty's response?
MARTY: Is it just a threat? Is it something that he can actually do? We can't take that risk.
NADWORNY: It's not just providers. Abortion funds, which typically help pay for pregnant people to get an abortion, often out of state, have also paused that work in Alabama. As a result, health care providers, funds and advocates sued the attorney general last summer, asking a judge to rule on whether he has the power to prosecute.
MEAGAN BURROWS: The point of the threats is really the immense chilling effect that they're having on people who just want to help pregnant people.
NADWORNY: Meagan Burrows is a senior staff attorney at ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project, arguing before the court.
BURROWS: They're not getting an abortion in Alabama that would violate Alabama's criminal ban on abortion. They're getting an abortion in another state that's legal where it's occurring, and that's our exact argument in this case.
NADWORNY: When the lawsuit was filed, Marshall's office said he would continue to vigorously enforce Alabama law. That includes abortion providers conspiring to violate it. NPR reached out to the AG's office multiple times but didn't hear back. In court, Marshall has argued that telling someone where to get an out-of-state abortion is part of a crime, but the ACLU argues the AG's comments restrict free speech under the First Amendment, as well as restrict a patient's constitutional right to travel. Even conservative Supreme Court justices have noted travel is protected, but testing the limits of the law is the current landscape.
INGRID DURAN: This post-Dobbs era, it's a time of figuring out, what can we do? What is the precedent now?
NADWORNY: Ingrid Duran is with the National Right to Life Committee, working on state legislative affairs. She says Right to Life isn't adopting this strategy of going after helpers or restricting travel, but there's still value in testing what's feasible.
DURAN: What can states do? What is a state's, you know, legitimate interest in protecting unborn life, and how far can you take that?
NADWORNY: And even if the case doesn't go in the AG's favor, Duran doesn't think the outcome would hurt the anti-abortion movement.
Elissa Nadworny, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
