Abortion Across State Lines: Conspiracy to Commit Murder?
Our nation is fundamentally different from just fifty years ago. Roe v. Wade rocked us to our core and now, in its wake, mothers and fathers are left wounded by abortion and our generation is blinded by the lies of the abortion industry. Dobbs restored what Roe took away from us: the ability for elected representatives to regulate abortion. However, it could not return us to where we were pre-1973: to being a culture of life. We now must navigate how to heal as a nation and how to return to respecting life. This includes addressing many of the new issues that have arisen in a post-Dobbs landscape. One problem of increasing prominence is the prevailing efforts of abortion “charity” organizations (“abortion funds”). These funds, particularly those in abortion-free states, are using tax-exempt dollars to “help” women travel across state lines to where abortions are legal and pay for them. The question now arises, is this conspiracy to commit murder?
In this new terrain, states are having to wrestle with how to address this, if at all. Many states likely will not broach the subject, but states like Alabama are facing it head-on. Alabama’s Attorney General has openly stated that these abortion funds are, in his belief, committing an act of conspiracy. Yellowhammer Fund, an abortion fund based out of Alabama, has sued the attorney general’s office with the assertion that his remarks regarding the issue had a “chilling effect” on their work, but they may be getting more than they bargained for. In no uncertain terms, he explains Alabama law in the Motion to Dismiss, which prohibits persons from coming together to conspire to commit an act that, if conducted in Alabama, would be illegal, even if the act itself is out of state (ALA Code §13A-4-4). If the Yellowhammer Fund is not careful, they may find themselves in the prosecutorial crosshairs.
What about the rest of the nation? We don’t have to look very far, for this very issue is in our own backyard. Virginia has multiple abortion funds, many of which finance abortions and travel expenses for women in our western neighbor states so they can come to Virginia. The situation here, however, is the reverse of Alabama. Abortion is legal in Virginia whereas it’s a felony in Alabama. Following the abortion bans in Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia, Virginia’s most southwestern border became a target for abortion tourism...and abortion funds. State Line Abortion Access Partners is a recent development of the Virginia abortion tourist movement with Bristol Women’s Health being the abortion clinic that profits from it the most.
Under Virginia law, conspiring to commit what is a felony outside of Virginia (§18.2-22), constitutes a conspiracy. “If any person shall conspire, confederate or combine with another, either within or outside the Commonwealth, to commit a felony within the Commonwealth, or if he shall so conspire, confederate or combine with another within the Commonwealth to commit a felony either within or outside the Commonwealth, he shall be guilty…” (emphasis mine). With the reverse set of facts from Alabama, interpreting this law to our situation isn’t as cut and dry.
While abortion is a felony in Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virginia, it is still legal here. One may argue that a felonious act is not being committed in the state where it’s considered a felony, but rather where it’s legal. However, we know that at least in Bristol, workers at the border abortion clinic have admitted to journalists that they have the woman take the first abortion pill in the clinic, but the second one on their own, after allegedly signing a paper saying they will take it here. However, there is no way to prove where the final part of the abortion occurred. This area is murky and without full possession of the facts of what exactly is happening, it is impossible to make a concrete statement regarding the application of this statute. Yet if these abortion funds are targeting women in Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kentucky, they may face legal challenges for conspiracy in each of these states. But that all depends on their state law.
This legal theory is ultimately for each state’s attorney general to assess and pursue and at the end of the day, it’s for the courts to decide. Our culture has become increasingly cold and brazen in its view of life and it’s becoming apparent in how zealous and aggressive abortion advocates have become. We are never going to make progress in rebuilding a culture that respects lives and can heal from abortion if even those in pro-life states are not safe. As we pray for those in authority to do the right thing and pursue justice, we must do what we can to counter the false message being propagated to women.
