The future of reproductive health care in Wyoming

Jul. 17—CHEYENNE — As the deadline approaches for state officials to certify the state's trigger abortion ban, residents are bracing for the impact.

The Legislature passed House Bill 92 in 2022, and Gov. Mark Gordon signed it into law. It states any abortion shall not be performed, except when the woman's life is endangered or conception was from sexual assault or incest.

It couldn't take effect until after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, and the final decision is certified by the Wyoming Secretary of State.

Since the high court's Roe reversal at the end of June, the state Attorney General's Office had 30 days for review. Attorney General Bridget Hill told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle this week she intends to comply with the requirements and determine whether enforcement is "fully authorized under that decision."

Hill is required to report the results to Gordon and the Joint Judiciary Interim Committee, and the governor can certify the results to the secretary of state's office. The new abortion provisions take effect five days later.

Asked for comment, a spokesperson for Gordon pointed to a statement the governor made when the Supreme Court acted.

"This is a decisive win for those who have fought for the rights of the unborn for the past 50 years," he said June 24. "I signed Wyoming's prohibition on abortion bill because I believe that the decision to regulate abortions should be left to the states."

Legal ramifications

Penalties for anyone who violates the law include a felony punishable by up to 14 years in prison, as well for as any person who performs or prescribes an abortion by using anything other than accepted medical procedures.

There are additional provisions to punish any person or entity who violates abortion restrictions with a fine of up to $10,000, rights to damages for discriminatory employee practices for someone refusing to perform an abortion and a penalty for giving away an aborted fetus for experimentation.

Cheyenne attorney Abigail Fournier is concerned about how these penalties might be implemented if the so-called trigger ban law is certified. She said the language is unclear when it comes to exceptions for serious medical risk.

Fournier fears there will be a chilling effect. She said doctors may not want to take high-risk patients or do certain procedures. Fournier foresees health care providers referring patients to Colorado.

"The last thing we want to see, as a lawyer, as a doctor, as a community, is having a doctor stop and have to run every single procedure they do by the committee for ethics at their hospital, or their ethics board before they treat patients," she said. "I don't want to see doctors hesitating, because I think that's when fatal medical mistakes occur."

Fournier was uneasy with the rape and incest exceptions, because it's unclear whether it will be based on the victim's word or on an evidentiary hearing. She said oftentimes victims do not report such allegations. She noted that, in many such cases, there is no physical proof.

"Our courts in Wyoming are excellent at managing their dockets, much more so than other states," she said. "But I think most judges will tell you that being able to schedule a full-fledged rape or incest evidentiary hearing within weeks or months is just not possible."

Abortion access

There are few options for those seeking an abortion in Wyoming.

There is one clinic, in Jackson, that performs medication abortions. Efforts to establish a second clinic in Casper were delayed after an alleged arson in early June. Pro-Choice Wyoming Director Sharon Breitweiser said this means a large portion of Wyomingites leave the state to receive abortions, especially in the southeast portion of the state

If the law takes effect, Breitweiser expects those numbers will climb.

"Even though people are already going out of state, it's going to be harder for them," she said. "And then, of course, the clinics in the other states are going to be backed up and flooded with patients."

Gov. Jared Polis signed an executive order this month declaring Colorado would not cooperate with any states to investigate abortions. Other nearby states have not taken such actions.

With Utah and Idaho also having trigger ban laws, Breitweiser said this leaves Colorado as the main provider for Wyomingites. Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains serves Colorado, New Mexico, southern Nevada and Wyoming with 23 centers and has nearly 100,000 patients annually, according to its website.

Financial assistance is available for residents through programs such as the Wyoming Abortion Fund and Chelsea's Fund. Planned Parenthood locations provide both medication and surgical abortions, as well as other reproductive health care services.

Breitweiser said despite these options, she is devastated by the Supreme Court opinion.

"Wyoming has gone from kind of middle of the road on abortion restrictions to one of the 13th worst in the nation, just in one legislative session, and with one stroke of the governor's pen," she said. "So, (I'm) very upset and concerned about people being able to get the health care that they need and deserve."

Alternatives

There are other resources for pregnant individuals not seeking an abortion in the state, including 12 pregnancy resource centers.

Right to Life of Wyoming President Marti Halverson said those who are pregnant and seeking help occasionally reach out to her organization. It refers women to facilities that don't promote abortion, but may provide other support services. She said there has been an increase in individuals interested in participating in marches, events and fundraisers.

One of the centers her group refers people to is the LifeChoice Pregnancy Care Center in Cheyenne. Staff there declined to comment.

According to its website, LifeChoice offers medical services such as ultrasounds, pregnancy tests, educational support, and sexually transmitted infections testing and treatment. The facility advertises post-abortion support through an 8-week course that "helps hurting women find the path to healing through honest, interactive Bible study."

At least some medical providers in Cheyenne plan to continue care as normal for things like miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies, because these are not affected by the abortion law. Ectopic pregnancies are not viable and occur when a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus.

"I think there are people across the state who are nervous about doing something like that and being charged with doing an abortion, even if it's not an abortion," said Dr. Rene Hinkle, an obstetrician-gynecologist and co-founding partner of Cheyenne Women's Clinic. "I think as long as we as physicians do good medicine, practice good medicine, get the hormone levels that we need, get the ultrasounds that we need, diagnose a patient with either a miscarriage or an ectopic pregnancy appropriately, there should not be a problem, and we're going to continue to do that."

Although Hinkle and her fellow providers at the clinic will continue services, she said there may be pushback from some physicians, such as emergency room doctors, who are nervous about providing such services for fear of prosecution or accusations of performing abortions.

One change is that providers would no longer be able to offer patients terminations in cases where a pregnancy cannot survive outside of the womb, Hinkle said. These types of physical or genetic abnormalities are typically diagnosed around week 20 of a pregnancy when an anatomic ultrasound is performed.

"We will offer a termination in the late second trimester before viability, just so (those who are pregnant) don't have to carry a fetus to term that's never going to live," she said.

Hinkle explained that the longer someone stays pregnant, the higher the risk is for complications, such as high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia or bleeding, among other serious conditions.

Ending a non-viable pregnancy early can help prevent some of those negative health outcomes for the pregnant person, the OB-GYN said, as well as "a lot of anguish and heartbreak for the parents for those months."

Jasmine Hall is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's state government reporter. She can be reached by email at jhall@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3167. Follow her on Twitter @jasminerhphotos and on Instagram @jhrose25.

Hannah Black is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice reporter. She can be reached at hblack@wyomingnews.com or 307-633-3128. Follow her on Twitter at @hannahcblack.