North Dakota judge vacates state abortion ban, ruling it unconstitutional

This story was originally published by the North Dakota Monitor and republished by The 19th.

A judge vacated North Dakota’s abortion ban in a Thursday ruling, finding the law unconstitutionally vague and an infringement on medical freedom.

South Central Judicial District Court Judge Bruce Romanick’s order came as part of a lawsuit challenging the law brought by reproductive health care doctors and an abortion clinic last year.

Romanick’s ruling declared the law “unconstitutionally void for vagueness” and found that “pregnant women in North Dakota have a fundamental right to choose abortion before viability exists.”

The ban, enacted by the Legislature in 2023, makes abortion illegal in all cases except rape or incest if the mother has been pregnant for less than six weeks, or when the pregnancy poses a serious physical health threat.

The plaintiffs, which include reproductive health care doctors and the Moorhead, Minnesota-based Red River Women’s Clinic, in their complaint said the law not only infringes on individual rights, but also puts health care providers in danger by not specifying when an abortion could be performed for health reasons.

Tammi Kromenaker, director of the Red River Women’s Clinic, said Thursday’s decision gives her hope.

“I feel like the court heard us when we raised our voices against a law that not only ran counter to our state constitution, but was too vague for physicians to interpret and which prevented them from providing the high quality care that our communities are entitled to,” Kromenaker said.

The clinic had been North Dakota’s sole abortion clinic but moved from Fargo to Minnesota after the previous abortion ban went into effect.

The ban established penalties of up to five years in prison and a maximum fine of $10,000 fine for any health care professionals found in violation of the law.

The North Dakota Supreme Court last year struck down a similar abortion law adopted by lawmakers in 2007.

That law, often referred to as a “trigger ban,” went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the federal right to abortion established by Roe v. Wade.

The judge’s order asks plaintiffs to file a proposed judgment within the next two weeks.

The state is expected to appeal the decision.