North Dakota Supreme Court Won’t Stay Ruling Striking Down State Abortion Ban
- January 31, 2025
A three-justice majority of the North Dakota Supreme Court refused January 24 to stay pending appeal a judge’s ruling last year striking down the state’s abortion ban as unconstitutional.
In September 2024, District Judge Bruce Romanick found the law violated the fundamental rights set forth in the North Dakota Constitution, which were subject to strict scrutiny analysis. Romanick held the state’s constitution “protects a woman’s right to procreative autonomy—including to seek and obtain a pre-viability abortion.” The district judge also held the law was unconstitutionally vague in violation of the physicians’ due process rights. Access Independent Health Servs., Inc. v. Wrigley, No. 08-2022-CV-01608 (N.D. Dist. Ct. Sept. 12, 2024).
The state asked for a stay of the ruling pending appeal, which the high court denied.
“It is unlikely the State will succeed in showing this law is not unconstitutionally vague,” the majority said. “The harsh punishment the plaintiffs face if they fail to conform their medical practice to the requirements of the law makes the degree of specificity required here very high,” the high court observed. The law’s use of terms such as “reasonable,” “prudent,” and “knowledgeable” did not seem to meet the high level of specificity required by the state’s constitution, the high court said.
The high court also reiterated its prior holding that a pregnant woman in North Dakota “has a fundamental right to obtain an abortion to preserve her life or her health.” As a result, under strict scrutiny review, the high court was “not convinced at this juncture that the challenged law falls within constitutional bounds.”
Two dissenting opinions argued, among other things, that a simple majority of the high court lacks the power to declare a legislative enactment unconstitutional; rather, the court may do so only if at least four justices agree.
Access Independent Health Servs., Inc. v. Wrigley, No. 2025 ND 26 (N.D. Jan. 24, 2025).