Judge rules Alabama cannot target people aiding abortion

A federal judge this week ruled that Alabama’s Attorney General, Steve Marshall, cannot prosecute state residents for assisting pregnant women in seeking legal out-of-state abortions. The case highlights the Pandora's box that the 2022 Dobbs decision opened, triggering a series of bad-faith tactics by conservatives seeking to ban abortion nationwide. “This isn’t about life, this isn’t about babies,” says Jenice Fountain, whose nonprofit Yellowhammer Fund was one of the plaintiffs. “The state is obsessed with controlling the behavior of people they deem unmanageable, whether that’s women or trans folks.” The court ruling now allows health care providers to “inform patients about all of their options again,” adds WAWC Healthcare’s Robin Marty.April 5, 2025