One of the most heavily Republican states in America will continue to have legal abortion — thanks to a major oversight in a constitutional amendment the state GOP originally pushed as a means of blocking the Affordable Care Act.
According to The Associated Press, "The justices sided with the state’s only abortion clinic and others who had sued over the abortion bans passed since 2022, when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. Wyoming is one of the most conservative states, but the 4-1 ruling from justices all appointed by Republican governors was unsurprising in that it upheld every previous lower court ruling that the abortion bans violated the state constitution."
One of the now-voided laws restricted abortion at all stages of pregnancy except in cases of rape, incest, or life-threatening medical complications; the other would have made Wyoming the only state in America to completely outlaw abortion medication.
At issue is an amendment to the Wyoming state constitution Declaration of Rights, passed by voters in 2012, that declares, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.” Wyoming Republicans hoped this provision would nullify the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, in their state. It didn't, because no provision of the Affordable Care Act prohibited anyone from having, or compelled anyone to have, any specific medical procedure.
However, Wellspring Health Access, an abortion clinic in Casper that opened in 2023 despite widespread GOP protest and an act of arson that temporarily gutted the building, sued to overturn the state's abortion bans, arguing that "health care decisions" include the right to an abortion.
The state justices agreed, saying it wasn't their job to "add words" to the state constitution and the health care rights amendment as written indeed protects abortion — but suggested Republicans could rewrite the amendment to carve out abortion and put it to voters, which GOP lawmakers have vowed to do.
“This ruling may settle, for now, a legal question, but it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself," said Republican Gov. Mark Gordon. "It is time for this issue to go before the people for a vote.”
