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Court overturns Wyoming abortion restrictions
Wyoming's highest court struck down two state laws on Tuesday that imposed a near-total ban on abortion, ruling they violated the state constitution's protection of personal healthcare decisions.
Key ruling details
The Wyoming Supreme Court delivered a 4-1 decision, affirming that the state constitution guarantees a woman's right to make her own healthcare choices, including whether to terminate a pregnancy. The court rejected the state's argument that abortion does not qualify as healthcare.
"A woman has a fundamental right to make her own health care decisions, including the decision to have an abortion," the court wrote.
Laws challenged and blocked
The court examined two statutes: one prohibiting abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the pregnant woman's life, and another explicitly banning abortion pills. Both were invalidated.
The ruling emphasized that a woman's choice to end a pregnancy, while ending fetal life, remains a personal healthcare decision influenced by individual circumstances.
Legal and political fallout
The case was brought by four women-including two obstetricians-an abortion rights group, and Wyoming's sole abortion provider, Wellspring Health Access in Casper. The clinic celebrated the decision on Facebook, posting the word "Affirmed" alongside a quote from the ruling.
Abortion pills account for the majority of pregnancy terminations in the U.S. The now-blocked Wyoming law, passed in 2023 by the Republican-led legislature, criminalized prescribing, dispensing, or using medication for abortion.
Reactions and next steps
Wyoming's Republican Governor Mark Gordon criticized the ruling, calling it a temporary legal resolution that fails to address the moral debate. He urged lawmakers to advance a constitutional amendment to ban abortion, proposing a public vote as early as this fall.
"This ruling may settle, for now, a legal question, but it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself," Gordon said.
Antonio Serrano, advocacy director for the Wyoming ACLU, previously condemned the 2023 law, arguing that medical decisions should be guided by health needs, not politics.
Broader context
Wyoming joins over a dozen states where courts have intervened to block or suspend strict abortion bans enacted since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The ruling leaves abortion legally accessible in Wyoming for now, though political efforts to restrict it continue.
