“All individuals are endowed by their Creator from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death with the rights to Life, Liberty, Property, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The only purpose of government is to protect these rights for all.”
That’s the very first plank of the Wyoming Republican Party platform.
So, it’s weird that anybody would attack a Republican candidate for agreeing with it. But that’s what happened last week.
Glossy fliers landed in mailboxes across the state faulting Republicans for voting in favor of the Human Heartbeat Act (HB 126). According to pro-abortion activist, Brit Boril, the fliers landed in “about 23 districts.”
That’s a fair amount of money. Just spit-balling it, I would guess about $150,000 - all spent to trumpet that Republicans fulfilled their promise to uphold and defend the Wyoming Constitution. I couldn’t find wyounited.org on the Secretary of State’s website and was unable to figure out who paid for it.
I’m no campaign strategist. But, if you ask me, that money would have been more effectively spent in the general election where abortion is a wedge issue. In Wyoming, it functioned more like free advertising. So, I thank whoever ponied up the money for these fliers.
The Human Heartbeat Act is based entirely on the Wyoming Constitution. Its opening lines explain that “the Wyoming Supreme Court interpreted article 1, section 38 of the Wyoming Constitution to include a right to make health care decisions but acknowledged the Legislature's authority under article 1, section 38(c) of the Wyoming Constitution to enact reasonable and necessary restrictions to protect the general welfare of the people;”
From there, it moves to an even more foundational principle, the second section of Wyoming’s Declaration of Rights. “Article 1, section 2 of the Wyoming Constitution recognizes that all members of the human race have an equal right to life,” and states the obvious: “Unborn children are members of the human race.”
The Human Heartbeat Act found that the Wyoming Supreme Court “acknowledged that the state has an interest ‘in protecting the life that an abortion would end,’” in its January 6, 2026 ruling on State v. Johnson. By the Court’s own words, the Legislature found “that a right to life is the most fundamental of all rights, and the state has a compelling interest in protecting that life.”
Because of the legislature’s constitutional obligation to protect these rights, “[t]he state has a compelling interest in protecting the life of unborn members of the human race who cannot protect themselves.”
Finally, because “Medical evidence shows a fetal heartbeat is a key indicator that an unborn child is alive and will reach live birth,” the people of the State of Wyoming conclude that, “[t]he state has a compelling interest, beginning at least at the time a fetal heartbeat is detected, in protecting the life of the unborn child.”
Fifty Republicans in the House of Representatives and one Democrat affirmed these findings by voting yes. Only two Republicans opposed it - Bob Nicholas (R-Laramie) and Andrew Byron (R-Jackson). On the Senate side, it was equally lopsided. The only Republicans who joined the two Democrats in opposing it were Cale Case (R-Lander), and Charles Scott (R-Casper).
Lawyers, teachers, ranchers, businessmen, retired military, and law-enforcement officers all brought their knowledge and expertise to the floor to support passage of the Human Heartbeat Act. Many represented constituencies that were so strongly in favor of the legislation that it would have been political hara-kiri to vote against it.
All told, 78 out of 82 Republicans supported the protection of every member of the human race who has a heartbeat. That’s hardly a radical fringe. And the Republican governor was not content to let it go into law unsigned. He was proud enough to put his own John Hancock on the Human Heartbeat Act.
I thank whoever it was that doled out the cash for this mailer. It provided a great opportunity to spotlight the Human Heartbeat Act.
That hugely popular legislation was a compassionate and constitutional achievement of representative government. And the more people who know the particulars of it, the more they can support those Republicans who made it happen.
Jonathan Lange is a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod pastor in Evanston and Kemmerer and serves the Wyoming Pastors Network. Follow his blog at https://jonathanlange.substack.com/. Email: JLange64@protonmail.com
