North Dakota Seeks to Reinstate Abortion Ban Amid Legal Battle
The legal tussle over abortion laws in North Dakota continues as state attorneys have petitioned the North Dakota Supreme Court to allow a previously overturned abortion ban to stay in effect while the state challenges a judge’s ruling from September. The ruling had declared the law unconstitutional under the state’s constitution.
State District Judge Bruce Romanick earlier in October denied the state’s request to maintain the ban during the appeal process, stating, “The Court has found the law unconstitutional under the state constitution. It would be non-sensical for this Court to keep a law it has found to be unconstitutional in effect pending appeal.”
In response, the state has approached the Supreme Court, arguing that the case involves significant and unresolved constitutional issues crucial to North Dakota’s residents. They also cited the need to preserve the status quo during the appeal.
Previously, North Dakota was home to a single abortion clinic, which relocated to Moorhead, Minnesota, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Red River Women’s Clinic initially filed a lawsuit against the state’s abortion ban in 2022.
In 2023, North Dakota’s Legislature, which is predominantly Republican, revised the state’s abortion statutes following the Dobbs ruling. The revised ban, effective April 2023, criminalizes the act of performing an abortion, with exceptions limited to saving the mother’s life, preventing serious health risks, or in cases of rape or incest within the first six weeks of pregnancy.
