A state district judge struck down North Dakota’s abortion ban Thursday, saying the state constitution creates a “fundamental right” to access abortion until the fetus is no longer viable.
District Judge Bruce Romanick wrote in the order that the abortion law – is one of the toughest country it – was very vague.
The court concluded that pregnant women in the state “have a fundamental right to choose abortion until viability within the enumerated and unenumerated interests protected by the state constitution.”
“The trial is concluded [the law] It violates the North Dakota state constitution and is void for vagueness and of no effect,” he said.
Underlying the right to personal autonomy, liberty, and happiness, Romanick wrote, is “a woman’s right and responsibility to decide what her pregnancy requires of her in the context of her life and health.”
“Before reaching viability, a woman must retain ultimate control over her destiny, her body and ultimately her life path,” he said. “A woman’s choice as to whether or not to carry a pregnancy to term shapes the nature and course of her life on almost every possible level. The Court believes that such a choice, at least in terms of viability, should belong to the individual herself and not to the woman or the government.
Romanick in Roe v. the US Supreme Court upholding the right to abortion. In marking his move to overturn the Wade decision, he wrote: “This Court sees no reason to do the same with North Dakota precedent and the North Dakota Constitution.”
State Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in a statement that he would appeal the ruling, saying it “inappropriately rejects a law crafted by our state legislature and ignores applicable and controlling case law previously announced by the North Dakota Supreme Court.”
Romanick’s decision stemmed from the state’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a North Dakota clinic in 2022. The clinic has since moved across state lines to Minnesota.
Although the judge’s ruling legalized abortion in the meantime, there are no longer any abortion clinics in North Dakota, according to the Center for Reproductive Rights.
North Dakota’s ban prohibited abortion at all stages of pregnancy except when there is a risk of death or serious health. It also created an exception for rape and incest victims up to six weeks pregnant.