Wyoming Court Strikes Down Abortion Bans

The Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that two state laws restricting abortion are unconstitutional, ensuring that the procedure remains legal in the state for the foreseeable future. The decision, which came in a lawsuit challenging bans enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 overturning of Roe v. Wade, sided with abortion providers and patients who argued the measures violated Wyoming's constitutional protections for individual health care decisions.

The high court invalidated a broad ban on most abortions as well as a separate statute that would have explicitly prohibited abortion pills, making Wyoming the only state to target medication abortions in such direct terms. Although other states have effectively limited access to abortion drugs through wider prohibitions, the Wyoming laws represented some of the most stringent post-Roe restrictions proposed in the Mountain West.

The plaintiffs in the case included Wellspring Health Access, the sole abortion clinic in Casper, the advocacy group Chelseas Fund, and four women, two of whom are obstetricians. They contended that the laws infringed on a 2012 Wyoming constitutional amendment guaranteeing competent adults the right...