Court Halts Implementation of Wyoming’s Abortion Pill Ban Pending Lawsuit

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Wyoming’s plan to become the first state to ban abortion pills has been put on hold by a judge, who ruled on Thursday that the law will not take effect on July 1 as intended. Teton County Judge Melissa Owens made the decision after considering arguments from both sides and concluding that the plaintiffs had a strong chance of success in their lawsuit, while the state failed to demonstrate that the ban would not harm them.

While some states have effectively prohibited abortion pills by broadly banning abortion, Wyoming is the only state to specifically outlaw these medications. In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that access to one of the two pills, mifepristone, should continue while legal challenges are underway to overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of it.

The pill ban in Wyoming is being contested by four women, including two obstetricians, and two nonprofit organizations. Wellspring Health Access, one of the groups involved, opened the state’s first comprehensive abortion clinic in years after an arson attack in 2022. They are also challenging a near-total ban on abortion implemented in Wyoming in March. Judge Owens has temporarily suspended both laws and combined the two lawsuits.

Opponents of the ban argued that since abortion remains legal in Wyoming, banning abortion pills would force women to undergo more invasive surgical procedures. The ban opponents’ attorney, Marci Bramlet, compared it to insisting on open-heart surgery when a less invasive treatment option is available.

During the hearing, the state’s attorney, Jay Jerde, argued that the state constitutional amendment enacted in 2012, which grants Wyoming residents the right to make their own healthcare decisions, does not classify abortion for reasons other than healthcare as a protected right. However, Judge Owens pointed out that pregnancy itself involves pain and sickness, highlighting the complexity of defining what constitutes healthcare.

The new abortion laws in Wyoming, allowing exceptions for life-saving situations and cases of rape or incest reported to the police, were enacted following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last year. Since then, approximately 25 million women and teenagers have faced stricter regulations or near-total bans on abortion.

Wellspring Health Access, located in central Wyoming, offers pill abortions, a method used in over half of all abortions in the U.S. According to Julie Burkhart, the president of Wellspring, medication abortion is safe, effective, and has been FDA-approved for over two decades.

Wyoming officials have yet to comment on the recent ruling, but they have previously vowed to vigorously defend the legality of the new laws.

Judge Owens has now blocked three abortion bans signed by Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, a Republican who appointed her. She serves Sublette and Fremont counties, both dominated by the GOP, as well as Teton County, which is known for its affluence and less conservative leanings, making it less representative of the state as a whole according to some Wyoming residents.

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