FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — In a significant ruling, the Wyoming Supreme Court declared that abortion will continue to be legal in the state, striking down laws that included the first explicit ban on abortion pills. This decision, made on Tuesday, found the laws infringed upon the state constitution.
The justices sided with Wellspring Health Access, Wyoming’s only abortion clinic, and several other petitioners who challenged the bans, enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. The plaintiffs argued the laws were unconstitutional as they contradicted an amendment approved by voters in 2012, securing health care rights for competent adults.
Despite the state's attorneys contending that abortion does not equate to health care and thus couldn't violate the constitution, the justices maintained that their role was not to amend the text of the constitution, but they did leave open the possibility for lawmakers to propose a clearer amendment regarding abortion.
Governor Mark Gordon, a Republican, expressed disappointment following the ruling, prompting calls for immediate legislative action to draft a constitutional amendment to ban abortion and present it to voters. Such an amendment would need a two-thirds majority for consideration during the upcoming legislative session focused on state budgeting.
The laws that were overturned included one that sought to ban abortion in all cases except when the life of the mother is at risk or in cases of rape or incest, as well as a law that would have made Wyoming the only state to explicitly ban abortion pills. While abortion has legally remained accessible since the Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens blocked these bans, recent rulings caution that additional regulations requiring surgical center licensing for abortion clinics and mandatory ultrasounds before medication abortions may still be enacted.
