June, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court is considering a case that is expected to determine who can provide abortion care in the state.
The court heard arguments Wednesday in a 2019 case challenging the constitutionality of a law that says only a doctor licensed by the state medical board can perform an abortion in Alaska.
It was a law dating back to the 1970s It was struck down as unconstitutional by Supreme Court Justice Josie Garton last year, a victory for the group that brought the challenge, Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky. The state appealed Garton’s ruling.
Planned Parenthood has argued that there is no medical justification for the restrictions and that they unfairly burden those seeking abortions by limiting the pool of those eligible to provide care. In 2021Garton approved the group’s request to allow advanced practice physicians — health care workers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants — to provide Medical abortion Awaiting its decision in the main case. They have continued to do so, and since the 2024 ruling, they have also been able to provide procedural abortions, Planned Parenthood says.
Planned Parenthood lawyers said in court documents that advanced practice physicians routinely provide care similar in risk and complexity to those providing abortion services, and in 25 states they can provide medical abortion. Planned Parenthood’s advanced practice physicians seek to provide abortion care in the first trimester only, the attorneys said.
Since the 2021 Garton decision, advanced practice physicians have been providing “almost all” medical abortions in Alaska, and Planned Parenthood clinics in the state have been able to offer medication abortions every day they have been open, the attorneys wrote. Before that, doctors hired by Planned Parenthood on a per diem basis — at clinics on limited days — were able to provide medical abortions perhaps once or twice a week at each clinic, they wrote.
A vital statistics report released by the state earlier this year showed that the total number of abortions in Alaska has been fairly steady — 1,229 in 2021, 1,247 in 2022, 1,222 in 2023, and 1,224 last year.
US Supreme Court In 2022, he repealed the federal right to abortion, leaving it up to each state to regulate it.
Access to health care has been a long-standing concern in Alaska, where travel — sometimes covering hundreds of miles — is required for many residents. Compounding the ongoing challenges of recruiting and retaining medical providers.
Most Alaska communities are not connected to the state’s major road network, and health care in many small communities is often limited, requiring residents to travel to larger cities, such as Anchorage or Seattle, for more options or for specialized care. Round-trip flights can easily cost hundreds of dollars. In remote communities, fog or bad weather can cause flight delays.
Planned Parenthood has two clinics in Alaska, in Anchorage and Fairbanks. She closed her Juneau clinic last year.
Supreme Court of Alaska The right to privacy in the state constitution has long been interpreted to include abortion rights.
But state attorneys argued in court filings that Planned Parenthood had not shown that the law at the heart of the legal challenge “prevented women in Alaska from exercising their right to choose abortion.” Planned Parenthood could have hired more doctors but chose not to, the attorneys, including Assistant Attorney General Laura Wolfe, wrote.
“Even if an occasional patient is prevented from obtaining an abortion, the doctor-only law is not unconstitutional as applied to all women who are not substantially affected by the law because the law has a clearly legitimate sweep,” the filing states.
Wolf and Camila Vega, the attorney representing Planned Parenthood, argued in court Wednesday. The court did not specify when it might issue its ruling.