JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Supreme Court is considering a case that would determine who can provide abortion care in the state.
On Wednesday, the court examined arguments in 2019. in a case challenging the constitutionality of a law that requires only a physician licensed by the State Medical Board to perform abortions in Alaska.
The 1970s law was ruled unconstitutional by Supreme Court Justice Josie Garton, a victory for the challenger group Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky. The state appealed Garton’s decision.
Planned Parenthood said the restriction has no medical justification and that it unfairly burdens abortion seekers by limiting the number of people eligible to provide care. in 2021 Garton granted the group’s request to allow advanced practitioners — health care workers such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants — to perform medical abortions pending a decision in the main case. They have continued to do so since 2024. Procedural abortions could also be performed under the ruling, Planned Parenthood says.
Advanced practice doctors routinely provide care similar in risk and complexity to abortion services and can provide medication abortions in 25 states, Planned Parenthood attorneys said in court documents. Planned Parenthood’s advanced practice doctors aim to provide abortion care only in the first trimester, advocates said.
As of 2021, when Garton issued the decision, Advanced Clinic doctors perform “almost all” medical abortions in Alaska, and the state’s Planned Parenthood clinics could offer medical abortion every weekday, the attorneys wrote. Before that, doctors hired by Planned Parenthood on a per diem basis — at clinics on limited days — could offer medical abortion perhaps once or twice a week at each clinic, they wrote.
A vital statistics report released earlier this year by the state shows that the total number of abortions in Alaska has been relatively steady at 1,229 abortions in 2021, 1,247 in 2022, 1,222 in 2023. and 1,224 last year.
US Supreme Court 2022 repealed the federal right to abortion, leaving it up to each state to regulate it.
Access to health care in Alaska has long been a concern, as many residents must travel, sometimes hundreds of miles. These are ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining medical providers.
Most communities in Alaska are not connected to the state’s main road system, and health care in many small communities is often limited, forcing residents to fly to larger cities such as Anchorage or Seattle for more options or specialized care. Round-trip flights can easily cost hundreds of dollars. In remote communities, flights may be delayed due to fog or poor weather.
Planned Parenthood has two clinics in Alaska, in Anchorage and Fairbanks. She closed her clinic last year in Juneau.
The Alaska Supreme Court has long interpreted the right to privacy in the state constitution to include abortion rights.
But state attorneys argued in court filings that Planned Parenthood failed to show that the law at the center of the legal challenge “prevented women in Alaska from exercising their right to choose an abortion.” Planned Parenthood could have hired more doctors but chose not to, attorneys including Assistant Attorney General Laura Wolff wrote.
“Even if the occasional patient is prevented from obtaining an abortion, a physician-only law is not unconstitutional as it applies to all women who are not significantly affected by the law because the law has a clearly legitimate derogation,” the filing states.
Wolff and Camila Vega, an attorney representing Planned Parenthood, argued their sides in court Wednesday. The court did not say when it might issue a decision.