In a notable development, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction, reinstating a Guam law that mandates an in-person consultation before proceeding with an abortion. The reinstatement is the result of an appeal from the US District Court for the District of Guam.
The unanimous decision was authored by Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee, constituting a three-judge panel. The verdict asserted the law’s validity under rational basis review. Essentially, rational basis review implies that a law will be upheld as constitutional given that the government holds credible grounds for introducing the legislation and the law is sensibly linked to those interests. It was also made clear that any conceivable theses that are legally sound could back the establishment of such a statute.
The court inferred that the reinstated law advances Guam’s genuine governmental interests such as preserving potential life, ensuring maternal health, and upholding the integrity of the medical profession.
Respecting the equal protection challenge brought up by the plaintiffs, the court diverged from their standpoint. The plaintiffs, who are physicians providing abortion services, contended that the law violated the Constitution as it singled them out for disparate treatment in comparison to other medical practitioners. The court found, however, that the distinctive treatment of doctors under the law passed the rational basis review since “abortion presents different considerations than other medical procedures.”
In reaction to the judgment, the deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, Alexa Kolbi-Molinas expressed disappointment, criticizing the decision for enabling the enforcement of medically unnecessary government mandates and emphasizing that abortion remains legal in Guam.
It’s worth noting that the district court issued the injunction before the US Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a landmark case that overturned Roe v. Wade. Prior to Dobbs, abortion legislation was subject to an undue burden standard.
According to the Ninth Circuit’s opinion, Guam has not had abortion-providing doctors since 2018. However, the ruling accepted that the law allows face-to-face meetings with either a doctor or their “agent”.
The recent ruling comes after Guam’s district court rejected a motion earlier this year to reinstate a total abortion ban on the island.