Abortion providers: Wyoming’s heartbeat law creates untenable hardships

Jackson OB-GYN Giovannina Anthony received a text from a fellow Jackson obstetrician asking if she could see a patient who was five weeks and three days pregnant seeking an abortion. Anthony is out of the country and won’t return until next week. By that time, the patient “is past the six-week mark.”

Wyoming’s newly signed Human Heartbeat Act prohibits abortions, except in medical emergencies, if the fetus has a detectable heartbeat, which can occur as early as six weeks. Providers who fail to determine a fetal heartbeat could face up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine and loss of license.

The law’s combination of vagueness and “draconian” penalties creates what Anthony calls a trap law for providers. “Trap laws create a scenario where you’re like, ‘wow, it’s just not worth it,'” she said.

Janean Forsyth, executive director of Chelsea’s Fund, which helps pay for abortion services, said the law makes accessing care nearly impossible. “It’s so rare that someone, No. 1, would know they were pregnant at six weeks,” she said, then to arrange appointments, travel and childcare before a heartbeat is detectable isn’t feasible.

The new law came after January’s Wyoming Supreme Court decision striking down two 2023 abortion bans as unconstitutional, citing a 2012 constitutional amendment protecting health care decisions. Abortion rights advocates have filed a new legal challenge seeking to block the heartbeat law.