Two clinic owners in Alabama and the ACLU filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to prevent prosecutions of people who provide information or assistance to women who want to travel out of state to get abortions.

Alabama law prohibits doctors and others from performing abortions. The two plaintiffs in the lawsuit, Dr. Yashica Robinson and Robin Marty, used to run abortion clinics but now provide other health services to women, including prenatal and sexual health care. Both women  said they were afraid to provide information about abortion clinics located in states where the procedure is legal because of statements made by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall.

In a 2022 radio interview, Marshall said organizations that fund abortions out of state could potentially face legal scrutiny, according to the complaint.

“There’s nothing about that law that restricts any individual from driving across state lines and seeking an abortion in another place,” Marshall said. “However, I would say that if an individual held themselves out as an entity or a group that is using funds that they are able to raise to be able to facilitate those visits, then that’s something that we’re going to look at closely.”

The speculation about prosecution has centered on an 1896 criminal conspiracy law. It makes it illegal to conspire in Alabama to commit a crime in another state. However, the plaintiffs say the law doesn’t apply to abortion if it is legal in the state where it is performed.

Robinson and Marty said Marshall’s statements have had a chilling effect that prevents them from providing care and advice to patients. This violates their obligations to patients and their First Amendment right to free speech, according to the lawsuit.

“Plaintiffs and their staff know that patients expect to be able to trust their health care providers to give them counseling and information about all risks, benefits and alternatives, as well as information about how they can access the care they need,” the lawsuit said. “It is devastating for Plaintiffs to have to withhold vital information and support, putting their patients’ health and safety at risk, exacerbating the confusion and distress their patients are already experiencing, and contributing to potentially dangerous delays in accessing health care.”

In addition to the attorney general, the lawsuit names all of Alabama’s local district attorneys as defendants.

Robinson is an obstetrician-gynecologist who practices in Huntsville and is the medical director of the Alabama Women’s Center. She said the threat of legal action prevents her from advising patients about which clinics best fit their medical needs if they do plan to get an abortion in another state. She said before the ban, she provided medical records to out-of-state facilities and spoke with doctors about medically-complex patients, aspects of medical care she now longer feels able to provide.

“Tragically, banning abortion in Alabama seems to not have been enough, and those in power want to muzzle providers like me to prevent us from sharing information with our pregnant patients about the options they have, including abortion care in states where it is legal, and supporting our patients in accessing that care,” Robinson said in a press release from the ACLU of Alabama.

Marty, the other plaintiff in the lawsuit, owns the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa.

“When we cannot share information with patients about all of their options during pregnancy, including those options that are legal and available outside Alabama, the physician-patient relationship is put in jeopardy and our patients are harmed,” Marty said in an ALCU press release. “Alabama is our home, and we won’t leave or stop fighting until everyone in our state is able to access the care they need.”

A spokesman for the Alabama Attorney General’s Office has not yet responded to requests for comment.

The ACLU complaint was filed on the same day as a similar lawsuit by the Yellowhammer Fund, an organization that provided funding for abortions in Alabama before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Both lawsuits say that people should not be prosecuted for providing advice or assistance to someone seeking an abortion outside of Alabama. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Montgomery by attorneys with the ACLU and ACLU of Alabama.

“The attorney general’s threat to prosecute people for assisting and supporting Alabamians in seeking out-of-state abortion care is as dangerous as it is blatantly unconstitutional,” said Meagan Burrows, staff attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “When Marshall threatens criminal liability for anyone who facilitates interstate travel for legal abortion care, his purpose is clear: to extend Alabama’s abortion ban across state lines and discourage and burden the free movement of Alabamians.”

People who provide abortions in Alabama could face up to 99 years in prison. Violation of criminal conspiracy laws can also be prosecuted as felonies, according to the Alabama Code.