Burleigh District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled that the state’s abortion law violated due process rights in the North Dakota Constitution. But the nearest abortion facility is in Minnesota.
A state judge on Thursday overturned North Dakota’s near-total abortion ban, making the procedure legal in the Republican-led state.
Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled that the abortion ban, which came into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned, violates due process protections in the North Dakota state constitution.
“The North Dakota Constitution guarantees every individual, including women, the fundamental right to make medical judgments affecting their bodily integrity, health, and autonomy, in consultation with a health care provider of their choice, free from government interference,” Romanick wrote in the decision.
“Unborn human life, prior to viability, is not a sufficient justification for infringing on a woman’s fundamental right,” Romanick continued. “Criminalizing abortions prior to viability is not necessary to advance the state’s interests in women’s health and the protection of unborn human life.”
The law made abortion illegal in all cases except rape and incest, if the pregnancy was less than six weeks, or if the pregnancy posed a serious risk to the mother’s physical health. Health professionals found guilty of violating the law were subject to imprisonment for up to five years and a fine of up to $10,000.
The state attorney general plans to appeal Romanick’s ruling, and while the order makes abortion legal in the state, the closest clinic is still in Minnesota.
Abortion rights advocates declare major victory
The Red River Women’s Clinic, which operated in Fargo, North Dakota, before the ban took effect, filed the complaint that led to Thursday’s decision.
“We are very pleased with today’s decision,” clinic director Tammi Koremenaker told USA TODAY on Thursday. “It gives us hope. We feel like the court heard us.”
The clinic now operates in Minnesota, but is just a five-minute drive from its former location within the North Dakota state lines.
The nonpartisan North Dakota Democratic Party also hailed the decision, calling it a victory for women’s reproductive rights in the state.
“North Dakotans deserve the freedom to start and grow their families on their own terms,” Adam Goldwyn, chairman of the Democratic-NPL Party, said in a press release. “While today’s decision is a victory for women’s reproductive rights, this ban should never have been allowed in the first place and our freedoms are still at stake in 2024.”
Abortion advocates deplore the decision
North Dakota Republican Sen. Janne Myrdal, the lawmaker who sponsored the 2023 bill banning abortion in the state, told the North Dakota Monitor that Thursday’s decision was wrong.
“The losers today are the unborn children and their parents, not the activists. There are no winners in this case,” she told the outlet. “Judge Romanick will retire after a long career, having made the wrong decision in the most important case he has ever heard.”
Where is abortion illegal in the United States?
With the exception of North Dakota, abortion is currently illegal in 13 states in the United States: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, or KFF.
Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trends reporter for USA TODAY. Contact him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.
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