In brief
The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that the state's newly established abortion bans violate the constitution, ensuring that abortion remains legal in Wyoming. This decision follows a lawsuit from the only abortion clinic in the state and advocates who argued that these laws restricted health care rights. Governor Mark Gordon calls for an amendment to ban abortion, even after this ruling. The court's decision prevents laws that would have made Wyoming's abortion restrictions among the strictest in the nation.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court struck down laws that included the country’s first explicit ban on abortion pills, declaring them unconstitutional.
The justices favored the state’s only abortion clinic, alongside several advocacy groups, who challenged the restrictive laws enacted since 2022, post the U.S. Supreme Court's reversal of the Roe v. Wade decision.
The lawsuit was filed by Wellspring Health Access in Casper, along with Chelsea's Fund and four women, including two obstetricians, asserting that the laws obstructed the state constitutional amendment that protects competent adults' rights to make informed health care decisions.
State attorneys argued against the plaintiffs, claiming that abortion doesn't constitute health care within the constitution's interpretation.
The voters approved the constitutional amendment in 2012, aiming to counteract the federal Affordable Care Act. While the justices determined that the amendment was not originally tailored for abortion issues, they refrained from altering the constitution's text.
The ruling, which was passed by a 4-1 vote, left room for lawmakers to propose a clear constitutional amendment addressing abortion that could be put on the ballot this fall.
Governor Mark Gordon expressed disappointment with the ruling, urging the legislature to consider a ban on abortion. He asserted, 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.
The bid to amend the constitution would require a two-thirds vote to be considered in the legislative session, which mainly focuses on the budget, but it is likely to receive significant backing from the Republican-majority statehouse.
One of the laws overturned established a ban on abortion except when a woman’s life is at risk or in cases of rape or incest, while another would have uniquely prohibited abortion pills in the state. Abortion has remained legal since Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens blocked the bans as the lawsuit developed. In a previous ruling, Owens deemed the laws unconstitutional in 2024.
As Wyoming considers future regulations, it has previously passed laws mandating that abortion clinics meet surgical center standards and requiring women to undergo ultrasounds before receiving medication abortions. These additional restrictions could be implemented, though they are currently blocked by a separate lawsuit.
