Wyoming adds new regulations for abortion clinics

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon (R) signed a new bill into law regulating surgical abortions in the state.

Gordon signed House Bill 42 late Thursday night which adds “additional safety requirements” to surgical abortion facilities in Wyoming while the state's “the state’s abortion prohibition is being considered by the Wyoming Supreme Court,” according to a statement from his office.

Abortion is legal in Wyoming until fetal viability after a years-long battle in the state to restrict access. Anti-abortion advocates and some Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation seeking to ban the procedure.

Under the new law, the state’s only clinic offering surgical abortions — Wellspring Health Access — will need to be licensed as an ambulatory surgical center before it can perform the procedure again.

It also requires clinics that perform at least one abortion a year to have a physician with admitting privileges to a hospital located within 10 miles of the clinic. Physicians must also report each surgical abortion to the Wyoming Department of Health.

“Make no mistake—this law directly targets our clinic with the explicit goal of forcing us out of business,” Wellspring Health Access President Julie Burkhart said in a statement.

“By doing so, it limits healthcare options, increases costs, and puts countless individuals at risk.”

Wellspring added in its statement that the law is “blatantly unconstitutional” and interferes with Wyomingite's ability to “freely exercise their constitutional right to seek health care as they see fit."

Wellspring has since filed a lawsuit challenging the newly enacted law.

“The newly approved Criminal TRAP Laws will strip Wyoming women and their families of their fundamental rights,” the lawsuit reads. They “attempt to indirectly ban abortion by regulating Wyoming women and abortion providers ...”

The lawsuit also seeks to challenge another piece of legislation on its way to the governor — House Bill 64 — which requires women in the state to undergo an ultrasound within 48 hours before receiving the drugs needed for a medication abortion.

Under the bill, pregnant women will receive an ultrasound to provide them with the chance to “view the fetal heart motion” or to “hear the heartbeat” of the fetus.

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