An Alaska law prohibiting anyone other than a licensed physician from performing abortions violates the state constitution’s equal protection and privacy guarantees, a state Superior Court judge ruled.
There is “no medical reason” why abortions cannot be provided by advanced practice clinicians, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, said the Sept. 4 ruling issued by Superior Court Judge Josie Garton.
Limiting abortion services to state-licensed physicians violates the equal protection guarantee because other pregnancy-related services may be provided by advanced clinicians, Garton said in her ruling. The restriction “imposes a substantial burden on patients’ fundamental privacy rights to make reproductive decisions and access abortion care,” she said.
Her ruling bars the state from preventing “otherwise qualified medical clinicians” from providing abortions.
The decision came in a lawsuit filed in 2019 by Planned Parenthood Great Northwest.
The lawsuit targeted the physician-only provision, which dates to Alaska’s 1970 law that legalized abortion. It also targeted an Alaska Board of Nursing rule, based on the legal provision, that barred nurse practitioners from prescribing abortion medication.
In the decades since that law was passed, medical technology and services have changed, with more treatment provided by advanced practitioners. In its lawsuit, Planned Parenthood argued that the restriction of abortion services to physicians has become obsolete and results in unfair obstacles in a state facing a shortage of doctors and increasingly reliant on non-physicians such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants.
Garton, in her ruling, agreed with that argument, noting that the prohibition against advanced clinicians means “there are fewer available providers, fewer appointments and potential for greater delay. Given the time-sensitivity of accessing abortion care and the way the service is delivered statewide through three health centers many patients must travel significant distances to reach a health center.”
Shortly after the lawsuit was filed, the COVID-19 pandemic started, slowing legal procedures statewide. In 2021, Garton issued a preliminary injunction that barred enforcement of part of the restriction. Her injunction allowed clinical providers to provide medication abortions. After some delays, there was a nonjury trial last November in Anchorage.
The Alaska Department of Law said it is considering its next steps after losing the case.
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