Wyoming’s historic abortion pill ban blocked by judge

Abortion pills are still accessible in Wyoming for the time being, after a court decision Thursday ruled that the state’s historic ban cannot take effect until lawsuit is settled.

The ban was scheduled to take effect July 1, after Wyoming became the first state in the nation to ban abortion through medication back in March.

After hearing arguments in court from both sides, Teton County Judge Melissa Owens ruled that attorneys for the state failed to prove that the ban would not harm the plaintiffs as their case remains unresolved.

Although other states have effectively banned the medication by outlawing abortion, Wyoming is the only state that has banned abortion pills specifically.

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that access to one of the most commonly used pills, mifepristone, may continue as litigants attempt to overturn its approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The lawsuit filed against Wyoming’s pill ban was brought by a group of four women that includes two obstetricians and two nonprofit organizations.

The group is also suing to halt the state’s general ban on abortion. Owens has temporarily suspended that law, as well, combining the two lawsuits to be settled together.

At present, abortion is still legal in Wyoming, which means prohibiting abortion pills would force women to get more invasive procedures, argued Marci Bramlet, an attorney for the ban opponents.

“It effectively tells people you must have open-heart surgery when a stent would do,” Bramlet said during the proceedings Thursday.

Owens has now blocked three abortion bans signed into law by Republican Gov. Mark Gordon, who originally appointed her.

With News Wire Services