Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 30
3 Abortion-Ban States Ask Supreme Court to Void Shield Laws for Mailed Pills
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 30

3 Abortion-Ban States Ask Supreme Court to Void Shield Laws for Mailed Pills

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 30

Summary

  • Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to hear a direct constitutional challenge to shield laws in New York, Massachusetts and California.
  • The three states argue those laws, which protect providers who prescribe and mail abortion pills into ban states, violate four constitutional provisions requiring interstate legal respect and cooperation.
  • A parallel federal lawsuit filed the same day against people and groups involved in dispensing abortion pills broadens the attack beyond individual providers and marks a sharper state-versus-state escalation.
  • More than 100,000 patients a year receive abortion pills from shield-law providers, making the laws a central post-Roe access route and increasing pressure for the justices to weigh in.

Insights

Can the Supreme Court decide whether shield-law states may refuse subpoenas and extradition requests over abortion pills mailed across state lines?