In a significant victory for reproductive rights in the United States, a North Dakota state court judge has overturned the state’s near-total abortion ban, paving the way for abortion to become legal in the Midwestern state for the first time in over a year. Judge Bruce Romanick’s ruling, issued on Thursday, found that the North Dakota state constitution protects women’s right to an abortion before the fetus is viable, aligning with US constitutional precedents.
The decision comes after abortion providers challenged the ban, which was signed into law by North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum in April 2023. The law made it a felony for doctors to perform abortions, with limited exceptions for saving the life of the mother or in cases of rape and incest. However, the providers argued that these exceptions were unclear and put doctors at risk of prosecution.
Romanick’s ruling stated that the North Dakota constitution protects each citizen’s “fundamental right to make medical judgments affecting his or her bodily integrity, health, and autonomy.” He further wrote that “unborn human life, pre-viability, is not a sufficient justification to interfere with a woman’s fundamental rights.”
The order is expected to take effect within 14 days, allowing North Dakota’s only abortion clinic, which relocated to Minnesota following the US Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling, to potentially resume operations in the state.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley announced plans to appeal the ruling, arguing that it “inappropriately casts aside the law crafted by the legislative branch of our government” and goes against precedent from the state’s Supreme Court.
The decision has significant implications for reproductive rights in the US, where over 20 Republican-led states have banned or restricted abortion following the US Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling. At least nine states are expected to vote on ballot measures to guarantee abortion rights in the upcoming November 5 election, making policy regarding abortion and women’s reproductive rights a key issue in this year’s presidential election.
