North Dakota judge overturns state's abortion ban, AG says he will appeal

(OSV News) -- A North Dakota judge overturned that state's near-total abortion ban Sept. 12, ruling the state's constitution permits abortion until viability.

The near-total ban on abortion, which the state enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, was unconstitutionally vague under North Dakota's constitution, Judge Bruce Romanick of the district court in Burleigh County wrote in the ruling.

The state's constitution "guarantees each individual, including women, the fundamental right to make medical judgments affecting his or her bodily integrity, health and autonomy, in consultation with a chosen health care provider free from government interference," Romanick said, ruling that the law did not clearly define some of its parameters, such as circumstances where a woman's life may be in danger.

The ruling came as part of a lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights.

Meetra Mehdizadeh, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement, "This is a win for reproductive freedom, and means it is now much safer to be pregnant in North Dakota."

"Hospitals and doctors no longer have their hands tied and can provide abortions to patients with complications," she said.

North Dakota's Attorney General Drew Wrigley (R) said in a statement he would appeal the ruling, arguing the judge's decision contained "flaws in his analysis."

"Judge Romanick's opinion inappropriately casts aside the law crafted by the legislative branch of our government and ignores the applicable and controlling case law previously announced by the North Dakota Supreme Court," he said.

The Catholic Church teaches that all human life is sacred from conception to natural death, and as such, opposes direct abortion. After the Dobbs decision,church officials in the U.S. have reiterated the church's concern for both mother and child, and it has called for strengthening available support for people living in poverty or other causes that can push women toward having an abortion.

There are currently no abortion clinics in North Dakota, as the state's last clinic relocated to Minnesota after the Dobbs decision.

Abortion rates, which began steadily rising in 2017 after a period of decline over three decades, have further increased since the Dobbs decision. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks abortion data, abortions in 2023 were up 11% over 2020. The 2023 data represents the first full year after Dobbs created what that report called a "fractured abortion landscape" as states enacted restrictions on, or protections of, abortion access.