JACKSON, Wyo. — The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade today, voting 5-4 to overturn the 1973 decision.
The ruling clears the way for states to decide the legality of abortions. For Wyoming, that means that House Bill 92- Abortion prohibition-supreme court decision, otherwise known as an abortion ban trigger law, can go into effect five days after Governor Gordon certifies the ruling to the secretary of state.
The Wyoming legislature passed the trigger law during the 2022 legislative session. Gordon signed the bill into law on March 15.
The law states, “An abortion shall not be performed except when necessary to preserve the woman from a serious risk of death or of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, not including any psychological or emotional conditions, or the pregnancy is the result of incest as defined by W.S. 6-4-402 or sexual assault as defined by W.S. 6-2-301.”
Gordon tweeted this morning in support of the Supreme Courts’ ruling but has not indicated when he will verify the ruling. Until Gordon certifies the ruling, the current law, which allows for abortions up to viability, which is about 24 weeks, remains in place.
Just the Pill, a nonprofit organization, offers telehealth consultations and abortion-inducing medications, approved by the FDA, and delivered by mail. The two medications they offer are approved for use up to the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The expense for one patient is $350. Just The Pill is still offering care for people in Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.
One provider in Jackson also offers medication abortion services up to 10 weeks.
Rep. Liz Cheney and Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis also weighed in on the Supreme Court ruling.
Barrasso released a press release stating, “The Supreme Court today ruled to return power back to states to legislate in a way that reflects the will of their voters. Opponents of this decision want unlimited, on-demand abortions – for any reason – up until the moment of birth. With today’s decision, the United States will no longer have the same anti-life laws as countries like communist China and North Korea.”
Lummis shared her thoughts via twitter,
According to recent data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about 93% of reported abortions in 2019 were performed at or before 13 weeks of pregnancy, 6% were conducted between 14 and 20 weeks and 1% were performed at or after 21 weeks.
