Wyoming advances bill to replace blocked pro-life trigger law

Legislators in Wyoming have advanced a bill to take the place of a trigger law protecting nearly all preborn children in the state, which was blocked by a district judge.

HB 152, the “Life is a Human Right Act,” has been sent to the governor’s desk to be signed into law after passing both houses of the state legislature. The bill is intended to protect virtually all preborn children from abortion, but includes exceptions for rape, incest, a “lethal” fetal anomaly, or to save the life or health of the mother. It also specifically notes that treatment for ectopic pregnancies or miscarriage are not considered abortions.

Under the bill, committing an abortion would be considered a felony, punishable by a fine of up to $20,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. Abortionists could also lose their license to practice medicine. There are no penalties for women who undergo abortions.

If Governor Mark Gordon signs the bill, it will immediately become law.

Last August, District Court Judge Melissa Owens blocked the state’s trigger law, which protected preborn children from abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or medical emergencies. Gordon had previously signed the trigger law in March of 2022, and it went into effect on July 27, after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Yet Owens placed a restraining order on the law almost immediately, and then issued an injunction against it again, following a lawsuit from a coalition of pro-abortion groups.

“The statute restricts a woman’s right to make their own health care decisions during pregnancy and discriminates against women on the basis of their sex,” Owens wrote. “The statute dilutes the rights available to women in making decisions regarding their health care and whether or not to give birth to a child.”

In November, she then ordered the lawsuit over the law to be taken to the state Supreme Court. The Wyoming Supreme Court refused to hear the case, sending it back to district courts, and keeping abortion legal in Wyoming.

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