Guam Barred From Enforcing In-Person Abortion Counseling Law

A Guam law that requires women to receive “in-person” counseling at least 24 hours before having an abortion is blocked for now because there’s no justification for it, a federal court said Friday.

Island officials didn’t offer any evidence to prove that remote face-to-face video conferencing offered by Guam-licensed physicians based elsewhere would be inferior to in-person communications, the U.S. District Court for the District of Guam said.

The burdens imposed by the requirement are “substantial” and may include the costs of traveling elsewhere to satisfy the counseling mandate, the opinion by Chief Judge Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood said.

The ...