Wyoming judge rules abortion rights protected by state constitution, media report

(Reuters) – A Wyoming judge on Monday ruled that two anti-abortion laws passed by the state legislature violate Wyoming’s constitution, keeping abortion legal in the state for now, local media reported.

Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens granted a permanent injunction against the “Life is a Human Right Act” and a medical abortion ban passed in 2023, the Jackson Hole News & Guide reported.

Owens found the laws violate a section of the constitution that states, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions,” KCWY television reported.

“The court concludes that the abortion statutes suspend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions during the entire term of pregnancy and are not reasonable or necessary to protect the health and general welfare of the people,” Owens stated, according to the News & Guide.

“The restriction begins even at the earliest stages of embryonic development, makes no distinction between a zygote and a fetus, and makes no distinction between a pre-viable and viable fetus,” the judge said.

Owens found that defendants including Governor Mark Gordon and Attorney General Bridget Hill failed to establish a “compelling governmental interest to exclude pregnant women from fully realizing the protections afforded by the Wyoming Constitution during the entire term of pregnancies,” according to the News & Guide.

Instead, the judge found the bans placed unreasonable and unnecessary restrictions on the right of pregnant women to make their own healthcare decisions, the news outlet reported.

Representatives of the governor, attorney general and attorneys for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a Reuters request seeking comment.

Litigation over abortion has exploded across the country since the June 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the national right to an abortion, handing lawmaking authority over to each state.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)