Wyoming's Supreme Court struck down the state's various abortion bans on Tuesday, January 6, meaning abortion will remain legal.
The court ruled 4-1 in the case State v. Johnson that a pair of pro-life bills were in violation of the state's constitution.
In 2023, Wyoming became the first state to ban chemical abortion. That same year, the state also enacted the "Life is a Human Right Act," which banned abortion in most cases. Both of these laws were struck down in Tuesday's decision.
Neither of these laws fully went into effect; both were challenged immediately upon passage and were blocked pending a lawsuit.
“A woman has a fundamental right to make her own health care decisions, including the decision to have an abortion. The State did not meet its burden of demonstrating the Abortion Laws further the compelling interest of protecting unborn life without unduly infringing upon the woman’s fundamental right to make her own health care decisions,” said the Wyoming Supreme Court.
“As such, the Abortion Laws do not constitute reasonable and necessary restrictions on a pregnant woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.”
In the decision, the judges noted that a constitutional amendment banning abortion could be considered and voted upon by Wyoming voters.
Wyoming, the least-populated state in the United States, has one abortion clinic.
