CNN
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Medication abortion will remain legal in Wyoming for now after a district judge on Thursday blocked the state’s ban on abortion pills, according to the Casper Star-Tribune.
The law, which was meant to take effect on July 1, would have banned the prescription, sale and use of abortion pills – the first such move in the country. It included a near-total ban on abortion in the state, which was also put on hold while legal challenges played out.
The Teton County District Court clerk’s office confirmed to CNN that district judge Melissa Owens held a three-hour hearing on the case Thursday and issued a verbal order from the bench. The order had not yet been written and was filed as of Thursday evening, according to the office.
After hearing from attorneys on both sides, Owens issued a stay on the abortion pills measure, adding that Wyoming residents want to make their own health care decisions, the Star -Tribune said.
“Essentially the government under this law is making the decision for a woman rather than the woman making her own health care choice, which is what the majority of Wyoming decided we should do. ,” Owens said during the hearing, the newspaper reported. reported.
Owens also temporarily blocked the state’s near-total ban in March, with a full trial set for April 2024.
The ban on abortion pills, signed by Republican Gov. Mark Gordon in March, stated that “it is unlawful to prescribe, distribute, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of purchasing or performing an abortion on anyone that person.” A woman who receives a medical abortion cannot be prosecuted under the law, which includes exceptions for medically necessary treatment to preserve the woman’s life or health and in cases of sexual assault or incest.
At the time of its passage, NARAL Pro-Choice America criticized the “first-of-its-kind ban” as evidence that “no stone will be left unturned by anti-choice extremists.”
