Three states with abortion bans asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to take up their claims that abortion shield laws in three other states violate the Constitution.
The lawsuit, filed by Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas against New York, Massachusetts and California, is the latest salvo in the battle between states that outlaw abortion and states that support making abortion available nationwide.
The states that filed suit on Wednesday contend that abortion shield laws — which protect abortion providers who prescribe and mail abortion pills to patients in states with abortion bans — violate four provisions of the Constitution that were intended to require one state to respect another’s laws.
States can bring disputes between themselves directly to the Supreme Court, which is given “original jurisdiction” by the Constitution and can function in such cases like a trial court. Past disputes that have gone before the court involved challenges over geographic boundaries or water rights. Justices have the discretion to turn down these cases, and often do.
But the filing — along with another case that the three states filed on Wednesday in Federal District Court against multiple people and organizations working to prescribe or dispense abortion pills — represents an escalation of state-versus-state maneuvering over abortion that many legal experts believe sets the stage for the Supreme Court to weigh in.
Over the last couple of years, there have been lawsuits and criminal cases brought by authorities in states with abortion bans, including Texas and Louisiana, targeting individual abortion providers in other states, including New York and California. Some of those cases made references to constitutional claims, but their main allegation was that the providers were violating a state’s abortion ban by prescribing and sending pills to patients who reside in those states.
The new filings are broader. The Supreme Court filing is the first time states with abortion bans are attempting legal action directly against states with abortion shield laws. And, along with the second case filed on Wednesday, it cites more constitutional provisions that it accuses the shield laws of violating.
After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a number of states that support abortion rights adopted telemedicine abortion shield laws. The laws prevent officials in those states from cooperating when states with abortion bans pursue subpoenas, extradition requests and other legal actions against providers. That is a stark departure from typical interstate practices of cooperating in legal matters.
The shield laws in New York, Massachusetts and California are among the strongest, and there several active abortion providers and organizations based in those states.
Shield laws have become a major avenue under which patients in states with abortions bans or restrictions are obtaining access to the medication. And with more than 100,000 patients per year receiving pills from shield-law providers, states with abortion bans have been searching for ways to block or hinder those laws.
Adam Liptak contributed reporting.
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