Wyoming Supreme Court strikes down state’s laws banning abortion access
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a pair of laws restricting abortion access violate the state constitution, including the nation’s first outright ban on abortion pills.
In a 4-1 decision, the court ruled that the state’s only abortion clinic and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Roe v. He joined others who filed suit over abortion bans that took effect after his decision overturned Wade and returned the power to make abortion laws to the states.
The ruling, by judges all appointed by Republican governors despite Wyoming being one of the most conservative states, upheld all previous lower court rulings that abortion bans violated the state constitution.
Wellspring Health Access in Casper, abortion access advocacy group Chelsea’s Fund and four women, including two OB-GYNs, argued that the laws violated a state constitutional amendment affirming that competent adults have the right to make their own health care decisions.
TRUMP CALLS GOP TO BE ‘FLEXIBLE’ ON HYDE REPLACEMENT, IGNITING REACTION FROM LIFE-WRONG ALLIES
The Wyoming Supreme Court has ruled that a pair of laws restricting access to abortion violate the state constitution. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Voters approved the constitutional amendment in 2012 in response to the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
Justices in Wyoming found that the amendment was not written to address abortion but noted that it was not their job to “add words” to the state constitution.
“But lawmakers may ask Wyoming voters to consider a constitutional amendment that would more clearly address this issue,” the justices wrote.
Wellspring Health Access President Julie Burkhart said in a statement that the decision supports abortion as an “essential health care” that should not be met with government intervention.
“Our clinic will remain open and available to provide compassionate reproductive health services, including abortion, and our patients in Wyoming will be able to receive this care without having to travel out of state,” Burkhart said. he said.
Wellspring Health Access opened in 2023 as the only clinic offering surgical abortions in the state, a year after a firebomb halted construction and delayed its opening. A woman is serving a five-year prison sentence after admitting she broke in and lit gasoline that she spilled on the clinic floor.
Wellspring Health Access opened as the only clinic in the state offering surgical abortion in 2023, a year after a firebomb halted construction. (AP)
Lawyers representing the state argued that abortion could not violate the Wyoming constitution because it is not a form of health care.
Republican Gov. Mark Gordon expressed disappointment with the decision and called on state lawmakers to meet later this winter to pass a constitutional amendment banning abortion that residents could vote on this fall.
Such a change, although it has significant support in the Republican-dominated legislature, would require a two-thirds vote to present it as a non-budget issue in the month-long legislative session that would primarily address the state budget.
“This decision may resolve a legal issue for now, but it does not resolve a moral issue and does not reflect where many Wyoming citizens, including myself, stand. It is time for this issue to go before the public for a vote,” Gordon said in a statement. he said.
COURT PARTIES OBJECT WITH TRUMP ABOUT CUTTING THE BUDGET PROVISION FOR PLANNED PARENTAL FUNDS
Governor Mark Gordon expressed disappointment with the decision. (Getty Images)
One of the laws overturned by the state’s high court sought to ban abortions except when necessary to preserve the life of a pregnant woman or in cases of rape or incest. The other bill would make Wyoming the only state to explicitly ban abortion pills; but other states have broadly restricted abortions, effectively banning abortion drugs.
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Abortion remained legal in the state because Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens blocked the bans and a lawsuit challenging the restrictions moved forward. Owens struck down the laws in 2024 as unconstitutional.
Last year, Wyoming passed additional laws requiring abortion clinics to be licensed surgical centers and requiring women to have an ultrasound before having a medication abortion. A judge in a separate case blocked those laws from taking effect while the case was pending.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
