A North Dakota Judge has overturned a 2011 law that restricted drug-induced abortions yesterday, citing it as unconstitutional. East Central Judicial District Judge Wickham Corwin stated that, “I remain convinced that a woman’s reproductive rights must be protected under the state constitution and must be recognized as fundamental,” at the end of the three day civil trial.
The legislation, House Bill 1297, outlawed the use of medication for the intent of ending a pregnancy, despite this being a safe and common alternative to surgical abortions. The case was originally brought to court in July of 2011 by the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), representing the Red River Women’s clinic, the only women’s clinic in North Dakota currently providing abortion services.
Nancy Northrup, the president and CEO of The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), said of the ban, “These efforts to keep North Dakota women from the best available medical care and deny them their right to make their own decisions about their pregnancies, their families, and their futures are not only disingenuous, but wholly unconstitutional.”
