North Dakota Abortion Ban Reinstated
The North Dakota Supreme Court on Friday failed to secure a majority needed to uphold a lower court ruling that had struck down the state’s abortion ban. This decision effectively outlaws abortion access in North Dakota,joining 12 other states with total bans and 4 more with bans around six weeks of pregnancy.
The law, passed in 2023 following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, though it does not prosecute patients. While three justices found the law unconstitutionally vague, and one agreed with the lower court’s decision, the required four justices needed to declare a law unconstitutional were not reached.
Justice Jerod Tufte, in the majority opinion, argued the state constitution’s natural rights do not extend to abortion and that the law provides sufficient clarity. Attorney General Drew Wrigley and state Senator Janne Myrdal, who introduced the legislation, celebrated the ruling as a victory for the pro-life movement.
Though, reproductive rights advocates condemned the decision. The Center for reproductive Rights argued the ban is “cruel and confusing” for physicians, forcing them to choose between providing care and facing imprisonment. The state’s only abortion provider had already relocated to Minnesota in 2022.The ruling reverts the situation to allowing abortions only in life- or health-preserving scenarios within a hospital, a limited access already in place before the lower court’s temporary reprieve.
