Abortion is illegal again in North Dakota after court reverses a judge’s earlier decision

BISMARCK N D AP Abortion is again illegal in North Dakota after the state s Supreme Court on Friday couldn t muster the required majority to uphold a judge s ruling that struck down the state s ban last year The law makes it a felony crime for anyone to perform an abortion though it specifically protects patients from prosecution Doctors could be prosecuted and penalized by as much as five years in prison and a fine Three justices agreed that the ban is unconstitutionally vague under the state constitution The other two justices revealed the law is not unconstitutional The state constitution requires at least four of the five justices to agree for a law to be uncovered unconstitutional a high bar Not enough members of the court joined together to affirm the lower court ruling In his opinion Justice Jerod Tufte explained the natural rights guaranteed by the state constitution in do not extend to abortion rights He also commented the law provides adequate and fair warning to those attempting to comply North Dakota Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley welcomed the ruling saying The Supreme Court has upheld this significant pro-life law enacted by the people s Legislature The Attorney General s office has the solemn responsibility of defending the laws of North Dakota and currently those laws have been upheld Republican state Sen Janne Myrdal who introduced the decree that became the law banning abortion explained she is thrilled and grateful that two justices that are highly respected saw the truth of the matter that this is fully constitutional for the mother and for the unborn child and thereafter for that sake The challengers called the decision a devastating loss for pregnant North Dakotans As a majority of the Court detected this cruel and confusing ban is incomprehensible to physicians The ban forces doctors to choose between providing care and going to prison Center for Reproductive Rights senior staff attorney Meetra Mehdizadeh announced Abortion is physical condition care and North Dakotans deserve to be able to access this care without delay caused by confusion about what the law allows The ruling means access to abortion in North Dakota will be outlawed Even after a judge had earlier struck down the ban last year the only scenarios for a individual to obtain an abortion in North Dakota had been for life- or health-preserving reasons in a hospital The only abortion provider relocated in from Fargo to nearby Moorhead Minnesota Justice Daniel Crothers one of the three judges to vote against the ban wrote that the district court decision wasn t wrong The vagueness in the law relates to when an abortion can be performed to preserve the life and wellbeing of the mother Crothers wrote After striking this invalid provision the remaining portions of the law would be inoperable North Dakota s newly validated ban prohibits the performance of an abortion as a felony crime The only exceptions are for rape or incest in the first six weeks before countless women know they are pregnant and to prevent the mother s death or a serious fitness exposure to her North Dakota joins other states enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy Another four bar it at or around six weeks gestational age Judge Bruce Romanick had struck down the ban the GOP-led Legislature passed in less than a year after the U S Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade and opened the door to the state-level bans largely turning the abortion battle to state courts and legislatures The Red River Women s Clinic the formerly sole abortion clinic in North Dakota and several physicians challenged the law The state appealed the ruling that overturned the ban The judge and the Supreme Court each denied requests by the state to keep the abortion ban in effect during the appeal Those decisions allowed patients with pregnancy complications to seek care without fear of delay because of the law Mehdizadeh previously announced Source