Wyoming judge strikes down state's abortion bans


President Biden supporters wave a sign supporting abortion rights at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida during a rally on April 23, 2024. A Wyoming judge struck down that state's abortion restrictions on Monday. File Photo by Steve Nesius/UPI | License Photo

Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A county district judge in Wyoming blocked two state laws that limited abortion access, ruling that they violated the state's constitution.

Teton County Judge Melissa Owens said the laws -- Wyoming's Life Act and the Medication Abortion Ban -- violated a woman's personal autonomy in making her own medical decisions.

In her ruling, Owens said that Wyoming state legislators had "enacted laws that impede the fundamental right to make health care decisions for an entire class of people, pregnant women."

She went on to describe the laws, which restrict abortions at the earliest stages of development, did not distinguish between pre-viable and viable fetuses, imposing "unreasonable and unnecessary" restrictions.

Owens had already blocked the laws from going into effect after they were passed last year while court cases challenging the provisions played out in court. The laws are permanently banned, but the state is expected to appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Jay Jerde, a state special assistant attorney general, told the court last year that Wyoming's constitutional amendment does not apply to abortions but addresses women's health in illness. Jerde said the woman is making decisions about her health and the health of the fetus.

But Owens rejected the premise, saying that the "uncontested facts establish that the abortion statutes fail to accomplish any of the asserted interests by the state.

"The state did not present any evidence refuting or challenging the extensive medical testimony presented by the plaintiffs," she said.