{"id":295868,"date":"2023-08-08T06:42:40","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T11:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=295868"},"modified":"2023-08-05T18:51:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T23:51:59","slug":"guam-in-person-visits-abortion-pill-appeals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/guam-in-person-visits-abortion-pill-appeals\/","title":{"rendered":"Guam can require in-person visits for abortion pill, says appeals court"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last week, a federal appeals court reinstated a Guam law requiring an in-person consultation for women seeking abortion. The court’s decision provides further protections for women, who will no longer be able to access abortion by telemedicine.<\/p>\n

In 2012<\/a>, Guam passed a law that required women to meet with a doctor 24 hours before any abortion. After the territory’s last abortionist retired in 2018, the law unofficially halted abortions on the island. Two Hawaiian abortionists then challenged the in-person consultation, arguing that they should be able to prescribe the abortion pill via telemedicine. In 2021 the court placed an injunction<\/a> on that requirement, thereby allowing dangerous chemical abortions without the direct oversight of a physician.<\/p>\n

In the ruling, which overturned the lower court’s decision, U.S. Circuit Judge Kenneth Lee wrote<\/a> that the territory’s law should be upheld because “the people\u2019s representatives – not judges – decide whether to allow, ban, or regulate abortions.”<\/p>\n

“Guam can enact laws that it believes are best for its people, even if some people might strenuously oppose such laws or think them unwise,” Lee wrote.<\/p>\n

The court ruling also underscored the importance of an in-person examination for the abortion procedure.<\/p>\n