'Changed the legal rules': Governor irate after state supreme court rules anti-abortion laws are unconstitutional

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Law & Crime

Jan 21st, 2026, 1:01 pm


Wyoming's governor and attorney general are pleading with the state's supreme court to reconsider its ruling that abortion is protected in the state constitution, arguing the high court changed its own rules without informing them. Gov. Mark Gordon announced on Jan. 6 that he was asking Wyoming Attorney General Keith Kautz to file a petition for rehearing with the state supreme court within 15 days over its abortion ruling, and sure enough, that petition was delivered on Tuesday. The governor expressed his "deep disappointment" in the ruling, which traced the state's history on the topic back to 2012.

As the state's high court recounts in its 70-page ruling, that year "voters passed an amendment to the Wyoming Constitution that gave Wyoming adults the right to make their own health care decisions." It was designed to counteract the Affordable Care Act — or Obamacare — stating the "legislature may determine reasonable and necessary restrictions on the rights granted under this section to protect the health and general welfare of the people" and that the state "shall act to preserve these rights from undue governmental infringement."

In 2023, following the Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade the previous year, the Wyoming legislature passed a law called the Life is a Human Right Act, prohibiting abortions with limited exceptions, as well as a law forbidding the use of abortion-related drugs. A group of medical professionals, two nonprofit corporations, and an individual woman sued, arguing the laws violate the state's constitution. A trial court sided with the plaintiffs, and the state appealed that decision, landing the case in front of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

While considering the case, the state's high court said it focused on a single issue: "Do the Wyoming laws restricting abortions unjustifiably limit a woman's state constitutional right to make her own health care decisions?" They determined that they indeed do, stating "all five Wyoming Supreme Court justices agreed that the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a woman's own health care decision."

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/high-profile/changed-the-legal-rules-governor-irate-after-state-supreme-court-rules-anti-abortion-laws-are-unconstitutional/

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REFERENCE - https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143593784

[flashman13]

1. Just an FYI here; Wyoming was the first government entity in the world to grant women full voting rights in 1869.

I suspect that was probably in the minds of the 5 justices that ruled Wyoming's anti-abortion law was unconstitutional. A person does not have full autonomy if the state can control their personal medical decisions.