A Wyoming judge ruled Monday that two laws restricting and banning abortion in the state violate its constitution, making the procedure legal up until fetal viability for the time being.
Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens imposed an injunction on the pair of state laws in a ruling that said they ran afoul of the state constitution, which says every person has a right to personal autonomy in making medical decisions.
Owens wrote that under the two statutes — the Life Act and the Medication Abortion Ban — the state "has enacted laws that impede the fundamental right to make health care decisions for an entire class of people, pregnant women.”
Owens added that the state laws created a restriction on abortion beginning at the earliest stages of development, did not differentiate between a zygote and fetus and did not distinguish between a previable and a viable fetus. The statutes were therefore “facially unconstitutional,” Owens wrote, as they placed “unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions” on pregnant women’s rights to make their own health care decisions.
“The Court concludes that the Abortion Statutes suspend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions during the entire term of a pregnancy and are not reasonable or necessary to protect the health and general welfare of the people,” she wrote.
The case could be appealed to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican, said in a statement that the state plans to appeal the decision.
He called the judge's ruling "frustrating," adding that "this is just one of the steps in the judicial process."
"I remain committed to defending the constitutionality of this law and the sanctity of life," he said.
Wyoming had enacted a near-total abortion ban in March 2023, as well as a trigger ban that went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Owens has blocked the state's abortion laws three times now.
One of the plaintiffs in the current suit, Wellspring Health Access, opened as Wyoming’s only full-service abortion clinic last year. The clinic was the target of an arson attack in 2022, weeks before it was initially scheduled to open.
“This is a wonderful day for the citizens of Wyoming — and women everywhere who should have control over their own bodies, the president of the organization, Julie Burkhart, said in a statement after the ruling.
Burkhart vowed to continue to fight for abortion rights in places where restrictions remain in place.
The ruling is the latest setback for anti-abortion-rights groups. During the 2024 election, ballot measures enshrining abortion rights in states’ constitutions passed in seven of the 10 states where they were proposed.
