Judge overturns North Dakota's abortion ban, citing 'a woman's fundamental right'

A state judge overturned the North Dakota's near-total abortion ban on Thursday, making the procedure legal in the Republican-led state.

Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled that the abortion ban, which went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned , violates due process protections under North Dakota's state Constitution.

“The North Dakota Constitution guarantees each individual, including women, the fundamental right to make medical judgments affecting his or her bodily integrity, health and autonomy, in consultation with a chosen health care provider free from government interference," Romanick wrote in the ruling.

“Unborn human life, pre-viability, is not a sufficient justification to interfere with a woman’s fundamental right,” Romanick continued. “Criminalizing pre-viability abortions is not necessary to promote the State’s interests in women’s health and protecting unborn human life.”

The law made abortion illegal in all cases except for rape and incest if the pregnancy was less than six weeks along or if the pregnancy posed a serious physical health risk for the mother. Healthcare professionals found in violation of the law were subject to up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000.

The state's Attorney General plans to appeal Romanick's ruling, and although the order will make abortion legal in the state, the nearest clinic is still in Minnesota.

Abortion-rights advocates declare big win

The Red River Women’s Clinic, which used to operate in Fargo, North Dakota, before the ban went into effect, had filed the lawsuit that led to Thursday's ruling.

“We are very pleased with the decision today," clinic Director Tammi Koremenaker told USA TODAY on Thursday. "It gives us hope. We feel like the court heard us."

The clinic now operates in Minnesota but is only a five-minute drive away from its old location within North Dakota state lines.

The North Dakota Democratic-Non-partisan League Party also celebrated the ruling, calling it a victory for women’s reproductive rights in the state.

"North Dakotans deserve the freedom to start and grow their families on their own terms," Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn said in a news release. "While today’s ruling is a victory for women’s reproductive rights, this ban should have never been allowed in the first place and our freedoms are still at stake in 2024."

Anti-abortion advocates lament the ruling

Republican North Dakota State Sen. Janne Myrdal was the lawmaker who sponsored the 2023 bill that banned abortion in the state. She told the North Dakota Monitor that Thursday’s decision was not the right one.

“The losers today are the unborn children and their moms and dads, not any activists. There’s no winner in this,” she said told the outlet. “Judge Romanick will go into his retirement after a long career having made the wrong decision on the most important case he’s ever had."

Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley, the lead defendant in the case filed by the Red River Women's Clinic, announced that he will appeal the ruling, saying in a statement that "Judge Romanick’s opinion inappropriately casts aside the law crafted by the legislative branch of our government and ignores the applicable and controlling case law previously announced by the North Dakota Supreme Court."

Where is abortion illegal in the United States?

Now excluding North Dakota, abortion is currently banned in 13 states across the U.S. They are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, or KFF.

Fernando Cervantes Jr. is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach him at fernando.cervantes@gannett.com and follow him on X @fern_cerv_.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Judge overturns North Dakota's abortion ban, citing 'a woman's fundamental right'