Alaska Supreme Court is weighing a case that could decide who can provide abortion care in the state
JUNEAU, Alaska — The Alaska Supreme Court is considering a case that is expected to determine who can provide abortion care in the state.
The court heard arguments Wednesday in a 2019 case challenging the constitutionality of a law that says only a doctor licensed by the State Medical Board can perform an abortion in Alaska.
The law, dating from the 1970s, was struck down as unconstitutional by Superior Court Judge Josie Garton last year, a victory for the group that launched the challenge, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawaii, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky. The state appealed Garton’s decision.
Planned Parenthood has argued that there is no medical justification for this restriction and that it unfairly places a burden on those seeking abortions by limiting the pool of people qualified to provide care. In 2021, Garton granted the group’s request to allow advanced practice clinicians — health care workers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants — to perform medication abortion while awaiting its decision in the underlying case. They have continued to do so and since the 2024 ruling, they are also able to offer procedural abortions, Planned Parenthood says.
Advanced practice clinicians routinely provide care similar in risk and complexity to that of abortion services, and in 25 states they can provide medication abortion, Planned Parenthood attorneys said in court papers. Planned Parenthood’s advanced practice clinicians seek to provide abortion care in the first trimester only, the attorneys said.
Since Garton’s 2021 ruling, advanced practice clinicians have performed “almost all” medication abortions in Alaska, and the state’s Planned Parenthood clinics have been able to provide medication abortions every day they have been open, the attorneys wrote. Before that, doctors hired by Planned Parenthood on a per diem basis — in clinics for limited days — were able to provide medical abortions perhaps once or twice a week at each clinic, they write.
A vital statistics report released by the state this year shows that the total number of abortions in Alaska has been fairly consistent: 1,229 in 2021, 1,247 in 2022, 1,222 in 2023 and 1,224 last year. The report said this could include cases where medication was provided to manage a miscarriage, but did not provide a figure. It also says the reasons why a pregnancy is terminated are not reported to the state.
In 2022, the United States Supreme Court struck down a federal right to abortion, leaving it up to individual states to regulate it.
Access to health care has been a long-standing concern in Alaska, where many residents must travel hundreds of miles. Added to this are the ongoing challenges of recruiting and retaining medical providers.
Most Alaska communities are not connected to the state’s main highway 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, fog or bad weather can cause flight delays.
Planned Parenthood has two clinics in Alaska, in Anchorage and Fairbanks. She closed her Juneau clinic last year.
The Alaska Supreme Court has long interpreted the right to privacy enshrined in the state constitution to encompass the right to abortion.
But the state’s lawyers argued in court that Planned Parenthood did not demonstrate that the law at the center of the legal challenge had “prevented Alaska women from exercising their right to choose abortion.” Planned Parenthood could have hired more doctors but chose not to, wrote the lawyers, including Laura Wolff, an assistant attorney general.
“Even if an occasional patient were prevented from having an abortion, the doctors-only law is not unconstitutional to the extent that it applies to all women who are not significantly affected by the law, because the law has entirely legitimate scope,” the filing states.
Wolff and Camila Vega, an attorney representing Planned Parenthood, argued their respective views in court Wednesday. The court has not indicated when it might rule.
