Wyoming: District Judge Strikes Down State Laws Which Banned Abortion Including With Pills

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A district court judge on Monday blocked the continued implementation of Wyoming abortion bans that also expressly prohibited the use of abortion pills to end pregnancies, the Washington Times reports.

Signed into law by Republican Gov. Mark Gordon in 2022 and 2023 respectively, the laws banned abortion except in cases of rape and incest and to save the woman’s life. The 2023 law constituted the first time a US state has specifically banned abortion pills, the Times said.

Two obstetricians and two nonprofit organizations challenged the laws, which were both struck down by Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens on Monday, November 18, the Times reports. The plaintiffs argued the bans would harm their health, well-being and livelihoods. They further asserted that the laws violated a 2012 state constitutional amendment which provides that competent Wyoming residents have a right to make their own health care decisions.

Attorneys for the state argued that abortion is not a matter of health care and that a ban does not violate the right of residents to make their own healthcare decisions.

In her ruling, Owens determined that abortion bans prevent women from making their own health care decisions in violation of the state’s constitutional amendment. Moreover, Owens said, the laws “will undermine the integrity of the medical profession by hamstringing the ability of physicians to provide evidence-based medicine to their patients.”

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