Although most of the attention from a Jackson District Court judge’s Monday decision to shut down Wyoming’s abortion bans was centered on the removal of an overarching ban, also nixed was a first-in-the-nation ban on the prescription of chemical abortion drugs.
Most abortions performed in Wyoming are done by pill rather than surgical operations, along with more than 60% of U.S. abortions last year, according to Guttmacher Institute research.
The main ban overturned by 10th Judicial District Court Judge Melissa Owens on Monday would have outlawed nearly all abortions, including chemical, with exceptions for rape, incest and serious risks to the mother’s health.
The other law specifically prevented doctors from prescribing chemical abortion drugs like mifepristone and misoprostol, with some exceptions for medical events like miscarriages. A delay in treating a miscarriage usually results in the mother’s death.
State Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, who chairs the Wyoming Freedom Caucus, was the lead sponsor of the overarching ban. She said it’s clear that Owens is an activist judge based on the wording of her decision.
In the case of the abortion pill, she said Owens overreached in her ruling.
“She (Owens) incorrectly claims that misoprostol and other drugs are subject to a complete ban, when our laws make it clear that these drugs are only banned when used to kill an unborn baby,” Rodriguez-Williams said.
But Marcie Kindred, field communications director for pro-choice group Wyoming United for Freedom, said the chemical abortion law is written so vaguely that it’s not clear all miscarriages or instances where a fetus would be undeliverable are covered.
There have been a few deaths of pregnant women experiencing miscarriages in recent months that some have attributed to local abortion bans scaring medical personnel away from operating on the women.
“Wyoming women will die if these laws go into effect,” Kindred said.
Significance
The overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022 paved a road for states to enact measures completely restricting abortion access.
Wyoming was the first state in the country to impose a ban on abortion medication the next year. The precedent this set for the Cowboy State became a focal point for national attention and criticism.
Among these critics were Vice President Kamala Harris and the inventor of the abortion pill, who each publicly denounced Wyoming’s laws.
The chemical abortion ban was limited to the prescription of abortion pills in Wyoming and did not prevent mailing of abortion pills into Wyoming from outside the state. Rodriguez-Williams would not say whether she or other legislators will attempt to address that in the upcoming session.
Some pro-life advocates have called for contraceptives to be put back into the federal Comstock Act, which could be used to block all abortions in America, including in places where it’s legal.
In the early 1970s, provisions of the Comstock Act that made it a crime to use the mail to transport contraceptives or materials around contraceptives were repealed.
“It’s something a lot of abortion activists are concerned about,” Kindred said.
Sen. Tim Salazar, R-Riverton, who was the lead sponsor of the chemical abortion ban, told Politico last week he’s going to reintroduce legislation requiring any doctor who prescribes abortion pills to be responsible for disposing of the fetal tissue — mandating that patients taking the drugs at home collect and return it in medical waste bags rather than flush it down the toilet or throw it in the trash.
This legislation failed to be introduced in this year’s session.
“There’s a growing concern that these chemicals that are being used for abortion are possibly getting into our drinking water,” Salazar told Politico. “It’s the mission of government to protect public safety, and so if chemicals are in our drinking water that are dangerous and harmful, I would assume that most of my colleagues would want to prevent that.”
What’s Next?
Pro-life legislators also may try to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot asserting that abortion is not a form of health care in Wyoming, which was at the heart of Owens’ ruling — that abortion is in fact health care.
This amendment would go before the voters to approve or reject in 2026 if approved in the upcoming session.
Kindred said opposing an effort like this is one of the primary reasons that Wyoming United For Freedom was founded — to raise awareness about how the Wyoming Legislature is handling the issue of abortion.
“That’s been our game plan all along,” she said. “If they put it on the ballot, Wyoming will tell them how they feel about abortion.”
Both of the abortion bans passed with an overwhelming majority during the 2023 legislative session before being challenged in court almost immediately after. Owens’ decision brought a conclusion to those cases, which the state announced it will appeal before the Wyoming Supreme Court.
Rodriguez-Williams said she will remain committed to enacting pro-life legislation and considers abortion “the slavery of our time.”
“My ability and willingness to save a human life is not a foreign concept to those who know me,” she said. “Abortion is not health care, and life is a human right. I will not rest until all humans are protected by the laws of our state.”
Monday’s decision marks a win for pro-choice advocates after voters in seven states passed measures in support of access this election season.
“Making your own health care decisions means being able to get care without confusing, harmful mandates from the state that risk your health and even your future ability to raise a family,” House Minority Floor Leader Mike Yin, D-Jackson, said in a Tuesday press release.
Yin said the Democrats will bring back the Wyoming Reproductive Freedom Act in the 2025 legislative session, a bill that would enshrine access to abortions under state law. This bill was brought during this year’s session, failing to receive introduction.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
