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Judge rules Alabama can't prosecute groups helping patients get abortions elsewhere
Reproductive rights groups in Alabama wasted no time resuming their work after a federal judge ruled late Monday that the state's attorney general can't prosecute – or threaten to prosecute – people or organizations who help Alabama residents seek an abortion by traveling to another state.
One of the plaintiffs, the reproductive justice nonprofit Yellowhammer Fund, wasted no time in returning to one of its core missions, to provide financial support to traveling patients.
"The decision came at about 5:30, I think we funded an abortion at 5:45 — because that's how severe the need is, that's how urgent it is that we get back to the work that we're doing," said Jenice Fountain, the executive director of Yellowhammer Fund, which advocates for reproductive justice and abortion access.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether or not South Carolina can remove Planned Parenthood clinics from the state's Medicaid program. This comes just days after Planned Parenthood received notice that the Trump administration will be withholding funding from the Title X Family Planning Program for nine of the group's affiliates.
"We're just seeing kind of a multiplying of conflicts where we have unanswered questions about the meaning of the First Amendment in this context, about the right to travel in this context, about due process in this context — about these sort of clashing state laws and choosing which one applies," said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at UC Davis specializing in reproductive rights.
One of the plaintiffs, the reproductive justice nonprofit Yellowhammer Fund, wasted no time in returning to one of its core missions, to provide financial support to traveling patients.
"The decision came at about 5:30, I think we funded an abortion at 5:45 — because that's how severe the need is, that's how urgent it is that we get back to the work that we're doing," said Jenice Fountain, the executive director of Yellowhammer Fund, which advocates for reproductive justice and abortion access.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on whether or not South Carolina can remove Planned Parenthood clinics from the state's Medicaid program. This comes just days after Planned Parenthood received notice that the Trump administration will be withholding funding from the Title X Family Planning Program for nine of the group's affiliates.
"We're just seeing kind of a multiplying of conflicts where we have unanswered questions about the meaning of the First Amendment in this context, about the right to travel in this context, about due process in this context — about these sort of clashing state laws and choosing which one applies," said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at UC Davis specializing in reproductive rights.
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/04/03/nx-s1-5351033/alabama-abortion-prosecution-steve-marshall-yellowhammer-wawc