ND court reverses judge's decision that legalizes abortion

The North Dakota Supreme Court has reversed a lower court's ruling and reinstated the state's near-total abortion ban, declaring it constitutional.

Under the reinstated law, performing an abortion is now a Class C felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine for healthcare providers. Women seeking abortions remain exempt from criminal prosecution.

North Dakota moved quickly to restrict abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade. The state's only abortion clinic, Red River Women’s Clinic, subsequently relocated from Fargo, North Dakota, to Moorhead, Minnesota, just across the state line.

In 2023, the legislature passed a near-total ban with narrow exceptions for cases of rape, incest, or medical emergencies. A district court judge, Bruce Romanick, later struck down the law, ruling that its language was unconstitutionally vague and created confusion for doctors.

North Dakota’s constitution requires at least four of the five supreme court justices to agree in order to invalidate a law. In this 3–2 decision, only three justices found the ban unconstitutionally vague, which was not enough to keep it blocked. The majority upheld the law.

Justice Jerod Tufte, writing for the majority, argued that the state constitution's protections of natural rights do not include abortion and that the statute “provides adequate and fair warning to those attempting to comply.”

Opponents of the ruling described the decision as a major setback for reproductive healthcare in the state.

"As a majority of the Court found, this cruel and confusing ban is incomprehensible to physicians. The ban forces doctors to choose between providing care and going to prison," said Center for Reproductive Rights senior staff attorney Meetra Mehdizadeh. "Abortion is healthcare, and North Dakotans deserve to be able to access this care without delay caused by confusion about what the law allows."

Republicans, meanwhile, celebrated the outcome.

"The Supreme Court has upheld this important pro-life legislation, enacted by the people’s Legislature. The attorney general’s office has the solemn responsibility of defending the laws of North Dakota, and today those laws have been upheld," said North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley, a Republican.

State Senator Janne Myrdal, the Republican who sponsored the 2023 ban, expressed relief and satisfaction with the ruling: "I am 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.'

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