In a landmark ruling with profound implications for reproductive rights, Wyoming’s Supreme Court has invalidated two restrictive abortion laws that imposed a near-total prohibition on the procedure. The 4-1 decision declared that both the comprehensive abortion ban and the nation’s first explicit prohibition on abortion pills violated the state constitution’s protections.
The court’s majority opinion established that “a woman has a fundamental right to make her own health care decisions, including the decision to have an abortion,” directly rejecting the state’s argument that abortion does not constitute healthcare. The legal challenge was brought by a coalition including four women (two of whom are obstetricians), an abortion advocacy organization, and Wellspring Health Access—Wyoming’s sole abortion provider located in Casper.
This legal victory represents a significant setback for abortion opponents in the deeply conservative state. The overturned legislation, passed by Wyoming’s Republican-controlled legislature in 2023, had criminalized prescribing, dispensing, distributing, selling, or using any drug for abortion purposes.
Republican Governor Mark Gordon expressed disappointment with the ruling, urging legislators to pursue a constitutional amendment that would permanently embed abortion restrictions in state law. “This ruling may settle, for now, a legal question, but it does not settle the moral one,” Gordon stated, advocating for a public vote on the matter.
The decision occurs against the backdrop of ongoing national legal battles following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade, which has prompted more than a dozen states to enact near-total abortion bans, many of which face legal challenges.