A Wyoming state official filed a 100-page document on Monday, asking the state’s Supreme Court to overturn a lower court’s ruling which put a halt to laws protecting preborn children from abortion.
In November 2024, Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens overturned two of the state’s pro-life laws, which protected nearly all preborn children from abortion, calling them unconstitutional. Owens contended that since abortion is ‘healthcare,’ the state didn’t have the authority to impede on that ‘care.’
“The Court cannot reconcile how a small group of prenatal cells, such as a zygote, that has only the potential of life, can trump the fundamental right of a living, breathing, pregnant woman to make her own medical decisions,” Owens wrote at the time.
After Owens’ ruling, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon vowed the state would appeal the decision. According to Wyoming Public Radio, the state’s special assistant attorney general, Jay Jerde, has now filed a motion asking the state Supreme Court to intercede.
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“An unborn baby literally cannot protect itself from being killed by an elective abortion,” Jerde wrote. “Only the Wyoming legislature through its lawmaking authority can do so.”
The plaintiffs who filed the lawsuit challenging the pro-life law have until March 20 to file a reply with the state Supreme Court. The state will then have a chance to reply to the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court justices hear oral arguments regarding the case.
While the law remains on hold, abortion remains legal in the state up until the point of “viability” — an arbitrary guideline that usually falls around 24 weeks, though children born as early as 21 weeks have survived with proper medical care.
In the meantime, lawmakers are also working to pass additional laws to protect abortion-minded women. Last week, the state House passed one bill that will require women to receive an ultrasound before taking the abortion pill, and another law that will regulate abortion facilities to ensure they meet basic safety standards. Both bills will next be considered in the Senate.
