- North Dakota court reinstates strict abortion ban.
- Ban prohibits nearly all abortions in state.
- Court decision overturns previous lower court ruling.
A lower court's judgment from last fall that had halted the prohibition was overturned by the Supreme Court, partly on the basis that its exceptions were unconstitutionally ambiguous. Despite the fact that three of the five justices on the court concurred with the lower court, they did not have the supermajority required by state law to declare statutes unlawful.
“This decision is a devastating loss for pregnant North Dakotans,”
Meetra Mehdizadeh, senior attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement.
Abortion rights groups claim that the ban's "reasonable medical judgment" criteria, which only permits abortion if the pregnancy poses a substantial risk to one's physical health, is too vague to be practical. Numerous women have come out to claim that they were refused medically necessary abortions, and doctors nationwide have stated that they have found it difficult to interpret the exclusions listed in abortion prohibitions.
“The vagueness in the law relates to when an abortion can be performed to preserve the life and health of the mother. After striking this invalid provision, the remaining portions of the law would be inoperable,”
Justice Daniel Crothers wrote in the majority opinion, which supported overturning the ban but lacked the votes to come into force.
“Just as a vague protest regulation could chill or deter constitutionally protected speech, a vague abortion regulation has the potential to restrict the provision of constitutionally protected medical care.”
Additionally, if a woman has been pregnant for fewer than six weeks, North Dakota's restriction permits abortions in circumstances of rape or incest. By then, a lot of women are unaware that they are pregnant.
Physicians who break the prohibition risk up to five years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Thirteen states now forbid all or most abortions after North Dakota's ban was reinstated.
How will this ruling affect abortion access in neighboring states?
The reinstatement of North Dakota’s strict revocation ban will probably push pregnant people to seek revocation care in bordering countries where it remains legal. Still, this will increase demand and strain coffers in those countries, potentially leading to longer stay times and reduced availability.
Some neighboring countries have espoused" guard" laws to cover their residents and providers from legal conduct related to out- of- state revocations, while others have sought to criminalize or circumscribe backing for carrying revocations across state lines, especially for minors. This creates a complex and uncertain legal terrain for those traveling for revocation care.
Therefore, while bordering countries may temporarily absorb some of the relegation effect of North Dakota’s ban, the ruling deepens indigenous inequalities in revocation access and sparks ongoing legal and policy battles around interstate revocation trips.