Poli Alert Politics & Civics
Related Articles
Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down laws that included the nation’s first explicit ban on abortion pills, ruling that the measures violate the state constitution.
The justices sided with Wyoming’s only abortion clinic and other plaintiffs who challenged abortion bans enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
In a 4–1 decision, the court ruled that the laws conflicted with a voter-approved constitutional amendment guaranteeing that competent adults have the right to make their own health care decisions.
Wellspring Health Access, an abortion clinic in Casper, the advocacy group Chelsea’s Fund, and four women — including two obstetricians — argued that the bans unlawfully restricted that right. Attorneys for the state countered that abortion does not constitute health care and therefore is not protected by the amendment.
The justices rejected that argument, acknowledging that the amendment was not originally written with abortion in mind but concluding that the court could not rewrite the constitution to exclude it.
“It is not this Court’s role to add words to the Wyoming Constitution,” the majority wrote. The court added that lawmakers could ask voters to clarify the issue through a future constitutional amendment.
Governor Calls for Voter Amendment
Republican Gov. Mark Gordon said he was disappointed by the ruling and urged lawmakers to pursue a constitutional amendment banning abortion, which could be placed on the ballot later this year.
“This ruling may settle, for now, a legal question, but it does not settle the moral one,” Gordon said in a statement. “It is time for this issue to go before the people for a vote.”
Such an amendment would require a two-thirds vote in the Legislature to advance during the upcoming session, which is primarily devoted to the state budget. Republicans hold overwhelming majorities in both chambers.
Laws Overturned
One of the invalidated laws would have banned abortion except to protect the life of a pregnant woman or in cases of rape or incest. The second would have made Wyoming the only state with an explicit statutory ban on abortion medication, although several other states have effectively restricted abortion pills through broader abortion prohibitions.
Abortion has remained legal in Wyoming while the lawsuit was pending after Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens blocked enforcement of the bans. Owens later ruled the laws unconstitutional in 2024, a decision now upheld by the state’s highest court.
Other Restrictions Still in Limbo
The ruling does not resolve all abortion-related litigation in Wyoming. Last year, lawmakers passed additional measures requiring abortion clinics to be licensed as surgical centers and mandating ultrasounds before medication abortions.
Those requirements could take effect following Tuesday’s decision, but a judge has blocked them under a separate lawsuit that remains ongoing.
