Judge Strikes Down Abortion Ban In GOP-Led State

A state judge struck down North Dakota’s abortion ban, saying it violates the state constitution.

According to the Associated Press, state District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled the “state constitution creates a fundamental right to access abortion before a fetus is viable.”

The judge also ruled the law violates the state constitution because it’s too vague.

BREAKING – North Dakota judge strikes down the state’s abortion ban and says women have a right to the procedure until viability. – AP

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) September 12, 2024

“Judge Bruce Romanick has overturned North Dakota’s near-total abortion ban, affirming that the State Constitution protects a woman’s right to abortion until fetal viability,” Mario Nawfal wrote.

“This ruling marks the second time in 2 years that Judge Romanick has struck down such legislation, citing the law’s vagueness and its violation of due process protections. Despite the ruling, abortion services remain unavailable in North Dakota due to the closure of the state’s only clinic,” he continued.

NORTH DAKOTA’S NEAR-TOTAL ABORTION BAN OVERTURNED

Judge Bruce Romanick has overturned North Dakota’s near-total abortion ban, affirming that the State Constitution protects a woman’s right to abortion until fetal viability.

This ruling marks the second time in 2 years that… pic.twitter.com/L0J3rhwNkz

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 12, 2024

From the Associated Press:

Under the judge’s order, abortion would be legal in North Dakota, but the state currently has no clinics performing them, and GOP state Attorney General Drew Wrigley promised to appeal the decision.

The state’s only abortion provider had been the Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, but it moved a few miles to Moorhead, Minnesota, in 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to ban abortion. Director Tammi Kromenaker said there are no plans to reopen a clinic in North Dakota but Thursday’s decision “gives us hope.”

“We feel like the court heard our concerns and the physicians in North Dakota’s concerns about a law that we felt went too far,” she said.

But Wrigley said in a statement that 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.

“Pregnant women in North Dakota have a fundamental right to choose abortion before viability exists under the enumerated and unenumerated interests protected by the North Dakota Constitution,” Romanick wrote.

A North Dakota court has struck down the state’s total abortion ban, holding that it violates the state constitution’s guarantees of due process and individual liberty. https://t.co/qfkP52LwRo pic.twitter.com/OaRVB2HqGi

— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) September 12, 2024

“The abortions statutes at issue in this case infringe on a woman’s fundamental right to procreative autonomy, and are not narrowly tailored to promote women’s health or to protect unborn human life. The law as currently drafted takes away a woman’s liberty and her right to pursue and obtain safety and happiness,” he added.

North Dakota judge strikes down state’s abortion ban, says women have ‘fundamental right’ https://t.co/6xEdlFcww7 pic.twitter.com/BG4fEwotLF

— New York Post (@nypost) September 12, 2024

Per Forbes:

Republican North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed the ban into law last year, which outlawed abortions, with exceptions for rape or incest up until six weeks, and the only exception after that point is if an abortion would “prevent the death or a serious health risk.”

North Dakota District Judge Bruce Romanick struck down the ban in a ruling issued Thursday, saying the ban was “unconstitutionally void for vagueness” and “pregnant women in North Dakota have a fundamental right to choose abortion before viability exists,” according to the North Dakota Monitor.

The ruling stemmed from a request by the state for Romanick to throw out a lawsuit from a North Dakota abortion clinic that since moved to Minnesota and was challenging the state’s ban.

Read the full ruling HERE.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

View the original article here.