North Dakota Judge Flipped A state court on Thursday struck down the state's abortion restrictions, finding they violate the state constitution and women's so-called “fundamental right” to have an abortion.
Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick said the state's abortion law, which went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned the abortion ban, Roe v. Wade In 2022 Dobbs This decision violates due process protections under the North Dakota Constitution.
Romanick writes:
The North Dakota Constitution guarantees all individuals, including women, the fundamental right to make medical decisions affecting their bodily integrity, health and autonomy, free from government interference and in consultation with a health care provider of their choice.
“The life of a pre-viable fetus is not a sufficient reason to violate a woman's fundamental rights,” Romanick continued. “Criminalizing pre-viable abortions is not necessary to advance the state's interest in protecting women's health or fetal life.”
The state's law prohibits abortions at any stage of pregnancy, except in cases of rape, incest or when the woman's life or physical health is at serious risk before six weeks of pregnancy. Health care providers who violate the law can be sentenced to up to five years in prison and fined up to $10,000.
Romanick added:
[P]Pregnant women in North Dakota have a fundamental right to choose to abort a pregnancy before it becomes viable, based on the enumerated and unenumerated interests of all residents of North Dakota, including women, protected in the North Dakota Constitution, specifically, but not necessarily limited to, the interests of life, liberty, safety and happiness, as enumerated in the North Dakota Constitution.
Red River Women's Clinic, an abortion clinic that previously operated in the state, filed the lawsuit before the state's abortion restrictions went into effect, and North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, the lead defendant in the case, has vowed to appeal the ruling, USA Today reported. Reported.
“Judge Romanick's opinion improperly ignores the law enacted by the legislative branch of our government and ignores applicable, controlling case law previously issued by the North Dakota Supreme Court,” Wrigley said.
Although the order made abortion legal in the state again, the report said there were no abortion clinics remaining in North Dakota, although the Red River Clinic has relocated to Minnesota and is a five-minute drive from its previous location in North Dakota.
“We're very happy with today's ruling,” said Tami Koremenaker, the clinic's director. “It gives us hope. We feel the court has heard our plea.”
State Senator Janne Myrdal, sponsor of the abortion restriction bill, said The North Dakota Monitor noted that the ruling puts many unborn children at risk.
“The losers today are unborn children and their mothers and fathers, not activists. There are no winners in this case,” she said. “Judge Romanick is retiring after a long career having misjudged the most important case ever.”
This incident Access Independent Health Services, Inc. v. WrigleyCase No. 08-2022-cv-1608, in the District Court for the Southern Central Judicial District of North Dakota.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X. Follow.
