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Judge Temporarily Blocks Wyoming’s First-in-the-Nation Abortion Pill Ban

The law, which was set to take effect July 1, is being challenged in a number of different lawsuits, including one brought by the state’s first full-service abortion clinic.

A Wyoming judge temporarily halted the state’s ban on abortion pills just days before the law was set to take effect on July 1, ruling that a number of legal challenges needed to play out before it could take effect. Judge Melissa Owens said that the plaintiffs in the case “have clearly shown probable success on the merits and that at least some of the plaintiffs will suffer possible irreparable injury” should the ban be implemented. Given that more invasive means of abortion, including surgical procedures, remain legal in Wyoming, an attorney for the plaintiff told the court, according to the Associated Press, banning medication abortion “effectively tells people you must have open-heart surgery when a stent would do.” Wyoming is as yet the only state in the nation to have passed a total ban on abortion pills specifically, with Gov. Mark Gordon (R) signing the bill into law in March. The language of the legislation makes it a felony to prescribe, sell, or use “any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.” Anyone found guilty of violating the law could face up to six months in prison and a $9,000 fine.