Planned Parenthood affiliate sues Alaska over telehealth abortion ban
The group seeks to block enforcement while it argues the ban delays care for tens of thousands of Alaskans.
- On Thursday, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai'i, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky filed a lawsuit in Alaska Superior Court seeking to overturn the state's ban on direct-to-patient telehealth medication abortions.
- A 1970 statute requires abortions occur in approved facilities; the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy interpreted this provision in 2023 to prohibit mail-order mifepristone, effectively mandating in-person clinic visits.
- Plaintiffs argue the restriction violates the Alaska Constitution's privacy and equal protection guarantees, as Alaskans often travel hundreds of miles for care while the state permits telehealth for other medical services.
- Acting Attorney General Cori Mills stated the Department of Law will defend the statute, saying it "carries a presumption of constitutionality and represents state policy validly enacted by the legislature and the governor."
- This challenge follows a 2024 Superior Court Judge Josie Garton ruling that broadened abortion access, though the administration appealed to the Alaska Supreme Court amid a nationwide legal battle over medication abortion.
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Anchorage Daily News
The Lawton ConstitutionPlanned Parenthood affiliate sues to lift Alaska’s ban on telehealth abortion
Most abortions in Alaska are performed with a drug called mifepristone, but a state law prohibits sending it by mail.
Planned Parenthood sues Alaska over in-person requirement for abortion pills
A lawsuit in Alaska Superior Court challenges the provision limiting abortions to physical locations, claiming that denying so-called 'telehealth' options denies equal protection of the 'right' to abortion courts have previously recognized.
Planned Parenthood Sues to Stop Alaska Ban on Mail-Order Abortions
Planned Parenthood sued the state of Alaska on Thursday to overturn a law requiring the dangerous abortion pill to be dispensed in approved medical facilities. That’s a law that blocks mail order abortions that are killing babies, putting women’s health at risk and enabling predators to target women. Desperate to sell more abortions, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, and Kentucky, filed the complaint in Anchorage Supe…
Alaska Beacon
Planned Parenthood sues to overturn Alaska ban on telehealth abortion services
Abortion pills and drinking water are seen in an undated photo. Alaska's constitutional privacy and equal protection guarantees give residents the right to get abortion medication prescriptions and related services through telehealth, argues a lawsuit filed Thrusday in state Superior Court. (Photo by Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)Abortion-rights advocates filed a lawsuit in Alaska Superior Court on Thursday to overturn a state ban on telehealth for…
Planned Parenthood affiliate sues Alaska over telehealth abortion ban
Planned Parenthood’s Northwest affiliate is suing Alaska to challenge the state’s ban on telehealth abortion. In a lawsuit filed Thursday in Alaska state court, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky (PPGNHAIK) said the state’s requirement that patients seeking medication abortion must be seen in person violates Alaskans’ constitutional right to abortion.
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