A federal judge ruled Monday that Alabama cannot prosecute abortion funds that illegally promote abortions in Alabama where they arrange for state residents to travel out of state for abortions. The ruling is a blow to the state’s attempt to fully enforce its abortion ban.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson sided with the pro-abortion Yellowhammer Fund and pro-abortion groups, including the West Alabama Women’s Center and Alabama Women’s Center, in their lawsuits against Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall. The groups had challenged Marshall’s threats to use conspiracy laws against those assisting women in arranging out-of-state abortions, arguing it supposedly violated their free speech and interstate travel rights.

Thompson’s 131-page decision declared that such prosecutions infringe on constitutional protections.

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“Alabama can no more restrict people from going to, say, California to engage in what is lawful there than California can restrict people from coming to Alabama to do what is lawful here,” he wrote, emphasizing the right to travel as “one of our most fundamental constitutional rights.”

The ruling stems from a legal battle sparked in 2023, when Marshall suggested on a radio program that helping Alabama women access abortions elsewhere could constitute a “criminal conspiracy.” The Yellowhammer Fund, which once provided financial aid for abortion travel, halted its assistance out of fear of prosecution for helping kill babies.

Marshall doubled down in an August 2023 court filing, asserting that Alabama could punish “conspiracy” even if the abortions occurred outside its jurisdiction.

“The conspiracy is what is being punished, even if the final conduct never occurs,” he argued.

Alabama’s law prohibits killing babies in an abortion at all stages of pregnancy.

LifeNews.com reported in August 2024 that Alabama Right to Life supported Marshall’s stance, arguing that facilitating out-of-state abortions undermines the state’s pro-life laws.

“Abortion funds shouldn’t be allowed to promote illegal abortions and get away with it,” the group stated.

Marshall’s office said it is reviewing the ruling to determine next steps, with an appeal to the conservative-leaning 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a likely option.

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