{"id":328986,"date":"2025-04-06T11:33:48","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T16:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=328986"},"modified":"2025-04-03T21:18:56","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T02:18:56","slug":"alabama-judge-promote-abortion-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/alabama-judge-promote-abortion-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama judge says abortion groups can promote and fund abortion travel"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

An Alabama judge ruled Tuesday that the state can’t prosecute individuals who help a person obtain an abortion out-of-state. The ruling effectively allows pro-abortion groups to promote and fund abortion travel.<\/p>\n

Nearly all preborn children in Alabama are protected from abortion due to state law. In 2022, Attorney General Steve Marshall made statements indicating that pro-abortion entities could face charges for aiding residents in getting abortions over state lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone was promoting themselves out as a funder of abortions out of state, then that is potentially criminally actionable for us,\u201d he said<\/a> in 2023, continuing:<\/p>\n

One of the things we will do in working with local prosecutors is making sure that we fully implement this law. There\u2019s nothing about that law that restricts any individual from driving across state lines and seeking an abortion in another place. <\/em><\/p>\n

However, I would say that if an individual held themselves out as an entity or a group that is using funds that they are able to raise to facilitate those visits, then that\u2019s something we\u2019re going to look at closely.<\/em><\/p>\n

Those statements led to several lawsuits, including a 2023 lawsuit<\/a> by two pro-abortion groups, which argued that the threat of prosecution violated their rights to free speech and the right to interstate travel.<\/p>\n

READ: FACT CHECK: Media uses story to blast Alabama\u2019s pro-life law\u2026 but there\u2019s a big problem<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson sided with the abortion groups, calling<\/a> the right to interstate travel \u201cone of our most fundamental constitutional rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is one thing for Alabama to outlaw by statute what happens in its own backyard,\u201d Myron wrote<\/a> in his decision. \u201cIt is another thing for the State to enforce its values and laws, as chosen by the Attorney General, outside its boundaries by punishing its citizens and others who help individuals travel to another State to engage in conduct that is lawful there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meagan Burrows, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU\u2019s Reproductive Freedom Project, praised the decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis should send a strong message to antiabortion politicians in states with bans,\u201d Burrows said. \u201cAny attempt to prevent their residents from traveling to obtain entirely legal reproductive health care will not stand.\u201d Burrows indicated that she also hoped the ruling would \u201cserve as good legal precedent we can rely on in other states where we see similar threats.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from AG Marshall’s office said<\/a> \u201cthe office is reviewing the decision to determine the State\u2019s options\u201d with regard to an appeal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Alabama judge ruled Tuesday that the state can’t prosecute individuals who help a person obtain an abortion out-of-state. The ruling effectively allows pro-abortion groups to promote and fund abortion travel. Nearly all preborn children in Alabama are protected from abortion due to state law. In 2022, Attorney General Steve Marshall made statements indicating that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":329159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlabama judge says abortion groups can promote and fund abortion travel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Alabama judge ruled Tuesday that the state can't prosecute individuals who help a person obtain an abortion out-of-state.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/alabama-judge-promote-abortion-travel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alabama judge says abortion groups can 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