Interstate abortion group allowed to sue Alabama attorney general

U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson ruled late Monday that a lawsuit by pro-abortion groups against Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall could go to trial. The lawsuit alleges that he abridged individuals’ rights to interstate travel and freedom of speech.

What’s this case about? The lawsuit pertains to interviews Marshall gave after the Supreme Court released its Dobbs v. Jackson decision, according to Thompson’s ruling. Marshall said on a radio show that his office would work to prosecute anyone assisting women in leaving the state to abort their babies. The Yellowhammer Fund, a group that aims to assist women in obtaining abortions, and three other plaintiffs who provided abortions or abortion referrals before Dobbs sued Marshall. They alleged that if the attorney general followed through on those claims, it would violate its free speech rights and individuals’ rights to interstate travel.

Marshall moved to dismiss the lawsuit. Thompson denied the motion to dismiss the claims that the attorney general’s office violated Yellowhammer’s free speech rights and individuals’ rights to interstate travel. But Thompson dismissed some lesser claims that Yellowhammer had brought.

Has the Supreme Court said anything about this? The Supreme Court’s Dobbs opinion in 2022 did not provide a clear answer on whether states could prohibit women from traveling to other states to abort their unborn babies. But in a concurrence in that ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh said that states would not be able to legally ban women from traveling across state lines for abortions.

Dig deeper: Read Thaddeus Williams’ column in WORLD opinions about resisting the terminology mainstream media use to categorize abortion narratives.