New abortion bill called 'demeaning' and 'shameful' in committee

Three abortion bills are back in the House so far, with hours spent on public testimony.

Via Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — A Jackson lawmaker scoffed at the final abortion bill he heard in the House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee on Friday.

Minority Floor Leader Mike Yin, D-Jackson, spent close to four hours last week listening to testimony on three bills sponsored by Wyoming Freedom Caucus lawmakers. Two were back after being vetoed by the governor last year: One would make it more difficult for the sole abortion clinic in Wyoming to meet licensing requirements to stay open, and another would mandate a transvaginal ultrasound at least two days before an abortion.

The third was a bill addressing abortion waste in water, a topic that Yin said strained his ability to take it seriously — but he had to because the committee was considering passing it. All three made it out of committee and onto the floor of the House. Debate began Tuesday night.

“It’s not really honest about what it’s trying to achieve,” Yin said. “I think it’s clear the intent is not necessarily clean drinking water. The intent is to ban abortion, which we already passed a bill in the state to do. They’re just doing it in a way that is frankly shaming people into not wanting to go in at all.

“Telling them they have to capture their miscarriage in a bag is probably one of the most shameful things I’ve seen the government ask people.”

House Bill 159 is sponsored by Rep. John Bear, R-Gillette, a leader of the Freedom Caucus. The 24-page bill has raised questions about how the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality and its Water Quality Division would establish standards for the collection and disposal of discarded drugs and enforce them.

“It is focused on protecting the life and health of the mother, as well as the public,” Bear said when presenting the bill Friday. “It is not designed to protect the life of the unborn child, which unfortunately will never be able to own a business and have a family.”

He said chemical abortions don’t pose a risk only to mothers; the chemical ingredients pose a risk to the general public.

“Abortion pills contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals and are being sent into our public water systems,” Bear said. “Pharmaceuticals pass through the sewage treatment plants and landfill sites. Those products are used to irrigate or fertilize agricultural land. The effects of pharmaceuticals in our waters can become magnified higher in the food chain, and predatory animals accumulate greater levels of the drugs than found in their local environment.

“These contaminants in water can pose risk to reproductive health by impairing the development and fertility of animals and human life.”

The public testimony was split in the two-hour meeting, with supporters asking for medical oversight and for the state to take into consideration the health risks of chemical abortions. Some even argued it was a step toward regulating all drugs that impact water quality. But challengers rebutted the claims with Food and Drug Administration studies, arguing that there are legal challenges to enforcing it and saying it was government overreach.

“Asking a woman to collect what is often a small amount of blood and cells in addition to other bodily fluids that are often expressed during a standard menstrual cycle, such as uterine lining, urine and diarrhea, is demeaning, to say the least,” Emma Laurent said, representing Wyoming United for Freedom. “However, asking her then to place this waste in a bright orange or red biohazard bag and deliver it to a medical facility goes one step further by not just publicly humiliating women, but also violates their HIPAA protections.”

She said the bill copied from other states was meant to scare women into thinking their private health decisions are traceable, instead of worrying about whether Wyoming water was safe from meth or fracking chemicals.

“The sponsors of this bill intend to tell women, ‘We are watching you,’” Laurent said.

This story was published on January 29, 2025.