(Cheyenne) A Wyoming judge has temporarily blocked the state’s abortion ban that went into effect Wednesday. So she sided with an abortion clinic that claimed the ban would violate the state constitution.
Posted yesterday at 5:26 p.m.
Wyoming therefore joins other states, such as Kentucky, Louisiana and Utah, where judges have temporarily halted the entry into force of “trigger laws” which were to come into force to ban abortions as soon as the Supreme Court would overturn the “Roe v. Wade” decision, which was done on June 24.
Lawyers who testified before Judge Melissa Owens in Jackson disagreed over whether the state Constitution contains a clause that would protect some form of abortion rights. If this were the case, the law which was to come into force on Wednesday would not be valid.
The law will therefore not be applied until the end of the legal proceedings.
Judge Owens favored arguments that the ban left pregnant patients with dangerous complications and their doctors in a difficult position.
“This could cause irreparable harm to complainants. They are left with no other option,” Judge Owens pointed out.
Republican Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed the state’s abortion-banning law in March that was set to go into effect Wednesday.
Four women and two nonprofits, however, took to court on Monday to challenge its validity, notably because the state Constitution provides a “fundamental right to be independent of government” and an amendment that recalls the right for individuals to make their own decisions about their health.
Wyoming Assistant Attorney General Jay Jerde, however, disagrees with those arguments. He recalls that the amendment used to challenge the law was adopted as part of the health insurance reform and that it has nothing to do with abortion.
“This right does not exist in our Constitution. We cannot infringe a right that does not exist, ”pleaded Mr.e Jerde in front of Judge Owens.
Those against the abortion ban say it will harm women – two obstetricians, a pregnant nurse and a University of Wyoming law student – by denying them access to potentially harmful treatments. vital for their patients or for themselves.
Wyoming law would have prohibited abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to protect the life and health of the mother. However, there was no provision to allow abortion in cases of psychological disorders. Prior to Wednesday, Wyoming allowed abortions up to the point where the fetus can live outside of its mother’s womb, about 23 weeks into the pregnancy.
Doctors and others who perform illegal abortions once the new law takes effect could be charged with a misdemeanor punishable by up to 14 years in prison.