Wyoming to Appeal Judge’s Decision Striking Abortion Ban, Will Fight in Court to Save Babies
On Tuesday, the day after Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens for the third time struck down two protective abortion laws, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon announced that “I have directed the Attorney General to review the opinion and prepare an appeal to the Wyoming Supreme Court.”
Gordon said, “Judge Owens’s ruling is frustrating, still this is just one of the steps in the judicial process,” adding, “Regardless of her decision, it was clear there would be an appeal. I remain committed to defending the constitutionality of this law and the sanctity of life.”
One law, HB0152, the Life is a Human Right Act, protects unborn babies except in cases of rape or incest or to save a woman’s life. The other–Senate Enrolled Act 93–made Wyoming the first state to specifically make it illegal “to prescribe, dispense, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion on any person,” with the exceptions for rape, incest, miscarriages and when the mother’s life is at risk.
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Reporter Clair McFarland wrote that
Wyoming House of Representatives Majority Floor Leader Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, was saddened and appalled with the decision.
“‘We go out of our way to protect and mount the forces and come to Wyoming and tell us how to protect a wolf — and we’ll scatter the ashes of a grizzly bear over the valley in respect and deep remorse over the loss of this animal,’ said Neiman, referencing Wyoming residents’ and outsiders’ grief over a slain wolf and famous grizzly bear that died in the past year. ‘And yet we don’t have a problem with a judge that looks at innocent human life and says, ‘Nope, no rights here?’”
Neiman, who is a rancher, said he has ultrasounds performed on his cows, and if a calf embryo even as small as a walnut is detected, the vet calls out “bred” and announces there will be a calf.
“Left alone and cared for, that will come to fruition,” he said. “But to take a human baby and look at it and say it’s not valuable — we give more respect to livestock than we do to human beings. How is that OK?”
The laws “were challenged by four women, two of whom are obstetricians, as well as two nonprofit organizations,” according to the Associated Press. “One of the groups, Wellspring Health Access, opened as the state’s first full-service abortion clinic in years in April 2023 after an arson attack in 2022.”
They argued, The AP wrote, that the bans “stood to harm their health, wellbeing and livelihoods – claims disputed by attorneys for the state. They also argued the bans violated a 2012 state constitutional amendment saying competent Wyoming residents have a right to make their own health care decisions.”
Judge Owens found the laws violate a section of the constitution that states, “Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions,” KCWY television reported.
“The court concludes that the abortion statutes suspend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions during the entire term of pregnancy and are not reasonable or necessary to protect the health and general welfare of the people,” Judge Owens added.
LifeNews.com Note: Dave Andrusko is the editor of National Right to Life News and an author and editor of several books on abortion topics. This post originally appeared in at National Right to Life News Today —- an online column on pro-life issues.