By Joe Taitano II, Pacific Daily News
Dec 16, 2024
The possible resurrection of Guam’s never-enforced 1990 abortion ban is still being argued in federal court, despite the U.S. Supreme Court declining to hear arguments in the case this past October.
Attorney General Doug Moylan wants a federal appeals court to lift the injunction on the old abortion ban, but Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero and a number of doctors that want abortions provided on Guam argue the matter should be thrown out.
John O'Connor | The Guam Daily Post
Dec 2, 2024
Attorney General Douglas Moylan continues to argue that the injunction placed on Guam's old abortion ban should be vacated or, at the very least, that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should schedule further briefings on the matter.
The abortion ban has already been determined to be without effect by the Supreme Court of Guam. Moylan attempted to get that decision reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States but was rejected.
John O'Connor | The Guam Daily Post
Dec 31, 2023
(February 2023-December 2023) The year 2022 was a significant time for both abortion rights and anti-abortion advocates, as that year saw the Supreme Court of the United States overturn a half-century of precedent and declare that the Constitution granted no right to an abortion in the U.S. This decision gave states and other jurisdictions greater latitude to regulate abortion, including the imposition of outright bans.
At the time of the Supreme Court decision, Guam was debating whether to pass an anti-abortion measure modeled after a Texas law - the Guam Heartbeat Act. The bill essentially would have banned abortions at six weeks, earlier than when women may know they're pregnant.
13 November 2023
Finau Fonua, RNZ Pacific Journalist
There's elation among pro-choice advocates in Guam following a decision by the US territory's Supreme Court to debunk an old anti-abortion law.
It dashes attempts by pro-life lawmakers on Guam to lift an injunction on Public Law 20-134, a law which imposes a total ban on abortion in all circumstances.
John O'Connor | The Guam Daily Post
Oct 30, 2023
Parties opposed to the attorney general's attempt at reviving a decades-old abortion ban on Guam argue that the AG is essentially looking to reset the field at this stage because he failed to lay down specific arguments earlier at a lower court. Additional arguments from the opposition bring up free speech issues imposed by the ban, and comment further that recent changes in the U.S. Supreme Court's position on abortion do nothing to change the unconstitutionality of such provisions.
Guam's abortion ban is found in Public Law 20-134. The ban prohibits abortions at all stages of pregnancy with limited exceptions related to medical intervention and ectopic pregnancies. Victims of rape and incest, for example, are not exempt under the ban unless they meet those limited exceptions. The ban also contains a referendum provision, allowing voters to determine if the ban should stay, but the election date has long passed.
Case: Guam Society of OBGYNs v. Guerrero
March 24, 2023
ACLU
HAGÅTÑA, Guam — A federal district court in Guam today denied Attorney General Douglas Moylan’s request that it lift a decades-old permanent injunction and allow a total abortion ban to take effect. This ruling means essential, life-saving abortion care will remain accessible on the island, and doctors and their patients will not face potential criminal prosecution for providing or accessing care.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and attorneys Anita Arriola and Vanessa Williams filed a brief earlier this month in opposition to reinstating the ban on behalf of three Guam-licensed physicians, including the only two physicians providing abortions to patients in Guam, and Famalao’an Rights, a Guam-based reproductive justice group
Continued: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/federal-court-preserves-abortion-access-in-guam
Facebook
Google+
Twitter
LinkedIn