MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WDNews) — Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has joined Louisiana and Arkansas in asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a challenge to abortion “shield laws” in New York, California and Massachusetts.
The three states argue the laws interfere with their ability to enforce abortion restrictions against out-of-state providers who prescribe and send abortion medication to patients in states where abortion is banned or heavily restricted.
According to the attorneys general, the shield laws can limit cooperation with out-of-state law enforcement, restrict extradition and prevent some out-of-state subpoenas and judgments from being enforced. The states argue those protections improperly interfere with their own laws.
The Supreme Court filing asks the justices to consider claims involving the Full Faith and Credit Clause, the equal-sovereignty doctrine, federal common law concerning public nuisance and the Dormant Commerce Clause.
“Alabama’s pro-life laws exist to protect mothers and their children. This is a coordinated scheme by bad actors from out of state to defy Alabama law and harm people in our state,” Marshall said.
“These drugs are dangerous for women who take them, and these companies knowingly break our laws and brag about it in their advertising. If state sovereignty means anything, it means Alabama cannot be forced to accept the death of unborn children and the harm it causes to mothers because someone outside our borders disagrees with our choice to protect life,” Marshall said.
Medication abortion remains federally regulated. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says mifepristone, when used with misoprostol, is approved to end an intrauterine pregnancy through 10 weeks. The FDA says mifepristone is safe when used as directed under its approved Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy. Under current federal rules, certified pharmacies may dispense the medication by mail.
New York Attorney General Letitia James pushed back against the lawsuit, saying Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas are seeking to punish New York doctors for health care that is legal in New York.
James said she would defend New York’s shield law and the providers and patients protected by it.
The three plaintiff states also filed a separate lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against abortion providers and related organizations accused of advertising, prescribing, dispensing or shipping abortion medication into states with abortion restrictions.
In that case, the states allege the defendants made false or misleading claims about the safety, effectiveness, legality and risks of abortion medication.
The states are asking the federal court to declare the alleged conduct a public nuisance. They are also seeking an injunction, damages, civil penalties, statutory damages, attorneys’ fees and court costs.
Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin said the states intend to defend laws passed by their legislatures.
“The rule of law matters, and with this civil action, we are sending a clear signal that our states take our laws seriously,” Griffin said.
The U.S. Supreme Court must decide whether to allow the interstate case to proceed before the underlying constitutional claims can be considered.One thing worth noting before publication: Louisiana’s attorney general describes the separate federal case as involving 30 individuals and organizations, while Arkansas’s attorney general calls it a lawsuit against 29 defendants. I left the number out of the story to avoid publishing a conflicting count.
