WYOMING has become the first US state to ban abortion pills after its governor signed a bill that made prescribing or selling them illegal.
Violating it is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $9,000 fine.
Women “upon whom a chemical abortion is performed or attempted” will not be prosecuted.
As Mark Gordon signed the bill on Friday, a Texas judge was considering a lawsuit that could effectively ban a common abortion pill nationwide.
Abortion pills are the most common method of pregnancy termination in the US.
The Wyoming bill, which was passed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature earlier this month, makes it illegal to “prescribe, dispense, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion”.
The law is scheduled to take effect on July 1.
It does not cover morning-after pills or treatment to protect a woman whose health or life is in danger.
It also exempts treatment of a “natural miscarriage according to currently accepted medical guidelines”. (BBC)
