Arkansas attorney general sends cease & desist letters to companies advertising delivery of abortion pills
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin is taking legal action against out-of-state companies he said are violating state law regarding abortion services, specifically abortion pills.
Griffin sent cease-and-desist letters on Tuesday to New York-based company, Women’s Health Medical Clinic and Aid Access out of the Netherlands.
He is pointing to two state laws as the legal grounds to take this action: the near-total abortion ban in Arkansas that went into effect in 2022, and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
DTPA allows Arkansas to sue vendors selling and shipping products banned in Arkansas to people living within state lines.
Both of the letters say Griffin’s office has discovered evidence on the two companies’ websites that conflict with Arkansas laws. According to the Women’s Health Medical Clinic website, women can go through an online consultation with one of their providers then travel out of state to pick up the pills. However, with there being two rounds for abortion pills spread out within a few days, that would likely mean women bring the second round back to Arkansas to take a few days later.
Aid Access’s website states it offers options for them to ship the pills to women in Arkansas within one to five days for $150.
Griffin said he is solely focused on the legal aspect of the matter but believes this could lead to more discoveries of companies doing the same.
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Those on the pro-choice side, who say they would prefer the services be offered here to begin with, said there needs to be a safe and reasonable plan B in Arkansas’ case.
State Rep. Denise Garner (D-Fayetteville), who is also a nurse practioner, said as the plan B options potentially narrow down because of Arkansas efforts, a lot of women will still find other methods to terminate their pregnancies in unsafe and potentially fatal ways.
Women’s Health Medical Clinic has not responded to requests for comment at this time, but the director of Aid Access provided the following statement:
“This action of the Attorney General will just inform more women with unwanted pregnancies living in Arkansas that Aid Access will help and that they can get FDA-approved abortion pills from USA providers at home in Arkansas and that they do not have to travel to another state if they are less than 13 weeks pregnant. Aid Access provides all support they need and we will not stop doing that. Also it is very important that women living in Arkansas who obtain the abortion pills and use it to end their pregnancies know that they are allowed to do that and are not breaking the law.”
The Deceptive Trade Practices Act allows penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. The attorney general said the companies have 14 days to comply with the order.
Arkansas enforced a trigger ban on June 24, 2022, that prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy. This ban was put in place after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
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A group is currently working to gather signatures for an abortion ballot question on the Arkansas November ballot. If they are successful, the right to abortion access would be part of the state constitution.
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