JACKSON, Wyo. — Ninth District Court Judge Melissa Owens heard remarks in the case of Johnson v. Wyoming, which will determine whether two recent abortion bans are legal under the Wyoming Constitution, at a pretrial conference Thursday at the Teton County Courthouse.
In March, the Wyoming Legislature passed two abortion bans. Both pieces of legislation, HB152 “Life is a Human Right Act” and SF109 “Prohibiting chemical abortions,” were blocked by temporary restraining orders granted by Owens in March and May. In June, Judge Owens filed the trial’s scheduling for April 2024 along with two separate pretrial conferences to be held Dec. 14 and March 14, 2024.
The hearing commenced at 1 p.m. and wrapped up at 4:40 p.m. She opened the meeting by stating that she did not intend to issue a ruling during the conference.
“The court does not intend on ruling from the bench today,” Owens said.
She doubled down on that decision after hearing oral arguments, which lasted for more than three hours. Owens cited the length of the oral arguments and the complexity of the issue as precluding her from issuing a decision during the conference.
“There’s no way that I would be ruling from the bench today,” she said at the end of the hearing. “We will leave it at that. Thank you so much for your wonderful presentations this afternoon, as always, throughout the last year and a half or so.”
Owens could issue a ruling at any time, or decide to send the case to trial in the spring.
Both sides presented their arguments during the meeting. Stay tuned for Buckrail‘s coverage of the oral arguments.
