First Charges Filed to Test Strict Guam Abortion Law

Guam’s attorney general, seeking a constitutional test of the U.S. territory’s day-old anti-abortion law, on Tuesday filed a complaint against a New York woman who had disseminated information here about terminating pregnancies.

Guam’s law, signed by Gov. Joseph Ada on Monday, is the most restrictive abortion legislation in the United States and has riveted national attention on this tiny South Pacific island.

The law makes it a felony to perform an abortion even in cases of rape, incest and fetal abnormality. An abortion is allowed only if two independent doctors determine a pregnancy would endanger the life of a mother or gravely impair her health.

It also makes it a misdemeanor to have an abortion or “knowingly solicit” pregnant women to have one.

In the complaint filed in Superior Court here, Atty. Gen. Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson said that Janet Benshoof, director of the Reproductive Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, violated the law when she encouraged pregnant women seeking abortions to leave Guam for Honolulu.

Barrett-Anderson had previously advised both the governor and the Guam Legislature that the abortion law was unconstitutional and said Tuesday that her action was designed to force a constitutional test.

“My decision to bring a criminal charge under the new law will provide the basis for the courts to decide the question as quickly as possible. I believe this will be in the best interests of the government and of all persons affected by the new law,” Barrett-Anderson said.

Voters in Guam have an opportunity to repeal the legislation in a referendum scheduled in November. The law was passed by the territorial Legislature after the archbishop of Guam had threatened to excommunicate those who opposed the measure, although most of the legislators said they were unaware of the threat. More than 90% of the population on the island is Roman Catholic.

In signing the legislation on Monday, Gov. Ada had insisted the law was a local issue. “I am not taking this action today to affect anyone’s life in the 50 states. I believe that this is a community issue and a community concern, first and foremost.”

But abortion foes and abortion rights supporters have seized upon the law as a possible test of the Supreme Court’s willingness to temper or undo its historic Roe vs. Wade decision, which guaranteed women a right to an abortion.

Idaho and Maryland are currently studying abortion legislation, but the Guam law caught activists by surprise. Benshoof arrived in Guam over the weekend proclaiming that the new statute cannot coexist with Roe vs. Wade and likened the bill to a “Pearl Harbor for women.”

On Tuesday she acknowledged that she was breaking the law in providing the name, address and phone number of a Honolulu group that could help women get an abortion. The attorney general’s complaint was filed Tuesday afternoon. Benshoof’s arraignment was set for today.