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Abortion will stay legal in Wyoming after the state’s supreme court struck down two near-total abortion bans on Tuesday, ruling that the laws violate the constitution of the profoundly conservative state.
In a 4-1 decision, the justices decided that the two bans – which include the nation’s first exclusive ban on abortion pills – violated a 2012 state constitutional amendment. That amendment affirmed competent adults’ right to make their own healthcare decisions and was originally passed as part of Wyoming’s response to the Affordable Care Act.
“Today, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed what we’ve always known to be true: abortion is essential health care, and the government should not interfere in personal decisions about our health,” Julie Burkhart, president of the Wyoming abortion clinic Wellspring Health Access, said in a statement.
“This ruling is a victory for the fundamental right of people across Wyoming to make decisions about their own lives and health.”
One of the laws overturned Tuesday sought to ban abortion except to protect a pregnant woman’s life or in cases involving rape or incest. The other law would have made Wyoming the only state to explicitly ban abortion pills. (Notably, other states have instituted de facto bans on abortion medication by broadly prohibiting abortion). In the four years since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, unleashing a wave of state-level abortion restrictions, abortion pills have grown increasingly popular, especially as abortion providers have begun to mail them into states that ban the procedure.
www.theguardian.com
In a 4-1 decision, the justices decided that the two bans – which include the nation’s first exclusive ban on abortion pills – violated a 2012 state constitutional amendment. That amendment affirmed competent adults’ right to make their own healthcare decisions and was originally passed as part of Wyoming’s response to the Affordable Care Act.
“Today, the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed what we’ve always known to be true: abortion is essential health care, and the government should not interfere in personal decisions about our health,” Julie Burkhart, president of the Wyoming abortion clinic Wellspring Health Access, said in a statement.
“This ruling is a victory for the fundamental right of people across Wyoming to make decisions about their own lives and health.”
One of the laws overturned Tuesday sought to ban abortion except to protect a pregnant woman’s life or in cases involving rape or incest. The other law would have made Wyoming the only state to explicitly ban abortion pills. (Notably, other states have instituted de facto bans on abortion medication by broadly prohibiting abortion). In the four years since the US supreme court overturned Roe v Wade, unleashing a wave of state-level abortion restrictions, abortion pills have grown increasingly popular, especially as abortion providers have begun to mail them into states that ban the procedure.
Wyoming supreme court strikes down near-total abortion bans
Justices rule 4-1 that laws, including a ban on abortion pills, violate a state amendment protecting healthcare choices
