Judge strikes down Wyoming's abortion laws, saying they violate state constitution
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.
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.”
The Teton County Courthouse in Jackson, Wyo.Google MapsOwens 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.
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