Gov. Mark Gordon signed into law Monday a measure that would ban abortions in Wyoming in all but the earliest weeks of pregnancy. The governor affirmed in a letter his “pro-life” commitment but also cautioned that the new law will likely land in court again.
The law bans abortions in the case of a “detectable fetal heartbeat,” which can come as early as six weeks.
Gordon predicted that the new law will likely end “in the all too familiar and unfortunate territory of pro-life litigation,” an apparent reference to a multi-year court fight over a pair of 2023 abortion bans that ended in January when the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled them unconstitutional.
The measure, Gordon wrote in his signing letter, doesn’t “offer the durable solution” he had hoped for. He referenced the fact that lawmakers declined to bring forward a constitutional amendment to address the fact that the high court ruled the state constitution doesn’t allow for an outright ban on abortion.
“Those efforts were shot down in favor of this sole remaining and flawed Act,” Gordon wrote. Even so, the governor decided to sign the measure, he explained, “with both support and concern.” “Life is sacred,” Gordon wrote.
The governor’s predictions appear to have already begun manifesting. Julie Burkhart, president of Wellspring Health Access, a Casper-based facility that is now the sole clinic in Wyoming offering procedural abortions, said in a statement shortly after Gordon’s signing that she’s prepared for another court battle.
The ban, Burkhart said in a statement, infringes on Wyomingites’ “constitutional freedom to make their own health care decisions” — the same line of reasoning that the Wyoming Supreme Court relied upon to strike down the 2023 abortion bans.
“With so many across Wyoming already struggling to access reproductive health care, restrictive policies like these take us further in the wrong direction,” she said.
“We are prepared to challenge this ban in court and fight to protect reproductive rights, health and freedom in Wyoming. We will also continue to work with our regional and national partners, including clinics, abortion funds and practical support groups, to help our patients access the care they need.”
In the wake of January’s Wyoming Supreme Court decision, Speaker of the House Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, said he had begun working on legislation that would allow voters to decide on a constitutional amendment related to the abortion question in Wyoming. Instead, he sponsored the Human Heartbeat Act, which he pitched as a way to “provide protection for life” while acting within the constraints resulting from the court’s decision.
Critics, however, have argued that the measure is just an abortion ban under another name, given that many women don’t learn they are pregnant before six weeks.
The bill requires that determination of a heartbeat “shall be made using standard medical practices and techniques.” Early detection could involve an invasive procedure known as a transvaginal ultrasound. Gordon vetoed a bill last year that would have required patients seeking abortion medications to first undergo a transvaginal ultrasound and a 48-hour waiting period. The governor and others objected to the bill’s invasive nature, among other things.
The Legislature overrode Gordon’s veto, and abortion rights advocates soon filed suit. A judge put the law on hold while the courts mull the case.
The new law, which is effective immediately, requires people to determine if a fetus has a detectable heartbeat before a pregnancy is terminated, except in the case of a medical emergency. It bars abortion if the fetus has a detectable heartbeat or if the person performing the abortion has failed to determine whether there’s a fetal heartbeat.
Medical professionals found in violation of the law would face a felony offense punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine up to $10,000. They would also lose their professional license.
While cardiac activity can be detected around six weeks, the term “fetal heartbeat” is, at this stage, a misnomer, according to physicians who note an embryo hasn’t developed cardiac valves at that stage.
In his state of the state speech last month, the governor called for a “durable solution” regarding abortion policy following numerous efforts in the Legislature to restrict the procedure. Those efforts and the court battles that have followed in their wake “have only weakened Wyoming’s laws on this matter,” Gordon said. Since Wyoming passed an abortion trigger law in 2022, abortion rights advocates in Wyoming have scored repeated victories in the courts.
Gordon called on the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment during the session. That way, he said, Wyoming voters could settle the matter once and for all. Lawmakers did bring a constitutional amendment bill related to abortion to the session, but it failed introduction in the Senate.
The main obstacle now to an abortion ban is the Wyoming Supreme Court’s conclusion that abortion is a fundamental right under the Wyoming Constitution, Gordon wrote.
“Whether we agree with that interpretation or not, it is the current constitutional framework governing abortion policy in Wyoming,” Gordon wrote. He maintained that a constitutional amendment or a “narrowly crafted solution” will be needed “to define that balance.”
The governor cautioned against ignoring “the legal complexity of abortion policy in Wyoming.”
“The State must protect unborn life while acting carefully within the constraints of the Wyoming Constitution and court decisions,” he wrote.
Gordon also criticized some aspects of the measure itself, particularly regarding the law’s lack of exceptions for women facing pregnancy caused by rape or incest. “This is in my mind an unfortunate flaw,” he wrote.
“To reaffirm, I resoundingly share the determination to defend the lives of unborn children and support the intentions behind the Human Heartbeat Act,” Gordon concluded.
“Regrettably, this Act represents another well-intentioned but likely fragile legal effort with significant risk of ending in the courts rather than in lasting, durable policy. Rather than finding a remedy that saves the unborn, I fear we have only added another chapter to the sad saga of repeatedly trying to force a specific solution.”
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Wendy Volk said it beautifully…thank you. Pregnancy is a conversation between the woman and her doctor, not legislators, where most of the men here couldn’t even explain how conception or pregnancy works in the human body.
But I’d like to add something here.
WY is The Equality State??? Let’s make this an equal partnership. Require all boys who reach puberty to have a vasectomy that is reversible only when and if a woman decides to have a baby. If parents or individuals don’t comply, they are fined $10,000 and 5 months jail time. Then I doubt we’d be having this abortion debate. And men and women equally would be deemed unable to make health decisions for themselves.
From what I’ve read, Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote. It wasn’t because that was the right thing to do, it’s because no women wanted to live in the harsh climate of the unpopulated Wild West Wyoming. Men who complain about feminism are exactly why it exists.
Women are smarter than men, which is why more of them are graduating from college. I know my daughters run circles around me. If we were to let them use their brain power, imagine how much better the world would be. If we were to let women make more decisions, imagine how much kinder the world would be. The male ego is holding all of us back.
And as for the women who support these archaic policies that have already been settled, you should get your head out of ancient books that teach you fairy tales and educate yourself.
An “exercise in futility” is an endeavor, action, or effort that is completely pointless, ineffective, or doomed to failure. It describes wasting time on tasks that produce no results or value.
If these people really wanted to stop abortion, or at least respect the will of Wyoming’s people, they would put this to a referendum and allow the people of Wyoming to decide. But they don’t. This will get caught up in the courts and again nothing will happen except grandstanding and purchasing political capital. What a waste of time, money, and effort.
Vote for people who will take this to a referendum on August 18th. The people in power right now will never do that.
You’re right Astrid. Below is a quote from WyoFile. Mr.Newman put his foot in it by admitting that he’s afraid that the will of the people will prevail.
“The house speaker also expressed worries in a Jan. 26 town hall that, if presented with a constitutional amendment, voters could codify the right to abortion.”
I am a mother and a 5th-generation business person who cares deeply about Wyoming families. I want our state to be a place where families can safely bring children into the world — and feel supported long after birth. That means access to prenatal care, safe and staffed hospitals, mental health support, childcare, and economic stability. It also means trusting women and families to make deeply personal medical decisions with their doctors.
This unconstitutional legislation does not strengthen that foundation. It risks destabilizing it.
We now face real consequences:
1. Physicians may choose to practice elsewhere.
2. Labor and delivery units in more rural Wyoming communities may close.
3. Women experiencing medical emergencies may have to travel out of state.
4. Families facing devastating pregnancy complications may endure added trauma and legal uncertainty.
As a mother, I know pregnancy can be joyful. It can also be medically complex, emotionally overwhelming, and sometimes dangerous. I personally experienced a high-risk pregnancy that was very traumatic for me and my family. No woman should face those moments wondering whether her physician is hesitating out of fear of prosecution.
If we truly want Wyoming to be a state where children and families thrive, we should focus on:
• Expanding maternal health access.
• Supporting rural hospitals and providers.
•Investing in childcare and early education.
• Strengthening postpartum and mental health support.
• Reducing maternal mortality and preventable health crises.
A culture of life is built on stability, access, and support — not criminal penalties.
A sick side note on this abortion ban: the Wyoming ban claims that the state has an “obligation to support and encourage childbirth” and a “compelling interest in providing for the state’s future population.” 🤮 Wyoming’s Handmaids Tale
I fully support a woman’s right to make her own health decisions.
But allow me a question regarding an exception for women facing pregnancy caused by rape. I have long wondered if that means an exception after an accusation of rape or does it mean after a conviction of rape.
Our legal system recognizes that a criminal defendant is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Unfortunately, it can take more, sometimes way more, than the length of a pregnancy for a rape case to wend its way through the legal system from accusation to jury verdict.
This is assuming the rapist is ever identified at all.
From the article….
“”While cardiac activity can be detected around six weeks, the term “fetal heartbeat” is, at this stage, a misnomer, according to physicians who note an embryo hasn’t developed cardiac valves at that stage.””
Doesnt negate the fact that the embryo-fetus-unborn baby is a living separate human being from the mother.
Abortion is the intentional ending of a human beings life.
It is not a living separate being until it can survive on its own. As long as it needs the oxygen and nutrients provided though the umbilical cord it is not a separate being. That is usually around 24 weeks, the record for earliest born and survived was 21 weeks, anything born before that will not survive. A fetus is not a baby until it can survived on its own.
I can’t believe the women in state put up with this garbage. At least Colorado is a relatively short drive. Gordon needs to go along with those bolo tie wearing idiots in the legislature.
“Pro-lifers” in the #1 suicide state cherry-picking medical definitions. Thank heavens for Colorado.
Why would any woman want to live in WYO?
“…except in the case of a medical emergency…”, I believe was a key phrase noted by the court last time, when they tried to claim abortion wasn’t healthcare. So why then can they pick and chose who can get healthcare? Who decides what constitutes an “emergency”? Does that include mental health? Why put a doctor in a bind between being sued by a family for wrongful death or going to jail and ending their career? Because that already happened in Texas where doctors literally waiting until women were close to death and some died. But in the end this was never about a fetus, the religious right has long sought to control women and bring them to heel. Keep’m pregnant and out of college so the boys can succeed again.
Nope! Still making healthcare decisions for someone. And republicans made sure the government can’t do that here lol! 🤣
This Is just more try to change the WYOMING CONSTITUTION AGAIN. Men changed it to start with when OBAMA gave insurance to us. They wouldn’t have a black man telling them what to do. Their comments off of K2 NEW!!! Then when they learned that ur gave us women the right to abortion. So then after 2 yrs fighting over it. The wyoming supreme court said you gave women the rights to abortion.The right to their own bodies. So now its down to this. SHAME ON ALL OF WYOMING GOVERNMENT. MEN JUST CANT STAND NOT BEING IN CHARGE OF OUR BODIES. HERE’S HOPING THAT NOTHINGEVER HAPPENS TO A FEMALE MEMBER OF YOUR FAMILY THAT NEEDS HER VAGINA OR HER UTERUS ATTENDED TO.
Molly, well put. Why does our Wyoming legislature refuse to protect health care options, which include abortion, for Wyoming Women!!!! A plain and simple tragedy AND unconstitutional to boot.