A federal judge on Wednesday overturned a North Dakota law that bans abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks into pregnancy and before many women know they’re pregnant.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland said the law is “invalid and unconstitutional” and that it “cannot withstand a constitutional challenge.” The state attorney general said he was looking at whether to appeal the decision by the Bismarck-based judge.
North Dakota is among several states that have passed new abortion restrictions in recent years, but abortion rights supporters called North Dakota’s fetal heartbeat law the most restrictive in the country.
A fetal heartbeat law passed in Arkansas would ban abortions at 12 weeks into pregnancy, but it was overturned by another federal judge. The state’s attorney general has said he will appeal.
North Dakota’s heartbeat measure was among four anti-abortion bills that Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed into law last year with overwhelming support from the state’s Republican-led Legislature.
Supporters of the measure have said it is a challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion up until a fetus is considered viable, usually at 22 to 24 weeks. When he signed the bill, Dalrymple called the laws “a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v. Wade.”
Opponents say the legislation is an attempt to shutter the Red River Clinic in Fargo, the state’s only abortion clinic.
Backed by the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, the Red River Clinic filed a lawsuit against the heartbeat law last July.
“The United States Supreme Court has spoken and has unequivocally said no state may deprive a woman of the choice to terminate her pregnancy at a point prior to viability,” Hovland wrote in his ruling.
Nancy Northrup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights praised Hovland’s ruling.
“The court was correct to call this law exactly what it is: a blatant violation of the constitutional guarantees afforded to all women,” Northrup said.
The director of the Fargo clinic, Tammi Kromenaker, said Hovland’s ruling was expected.
“It’s not a surprise that the judge ruled this way but it’s definitely a relief,” she said.
Last year, lawmakers in oil-rich North Dakota allocated $400,000 that was requested by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to defend against any lawsuits arising from the state’s new abortion laws.
Stenehjem said Wednesday that he needed to read Hovland’s ruling and talk to the governor and others before deciding what the state will do next.
“There are those who believed that this was a challenge that could go to the Supreme Court,” Stenehjem said. “Whether or not that’s likely is something we need to confer about.”
Stenehjem said the ruling wasn’t a surprise, saying Hovland signaled his intentions by halting the law while he considered the lawsuit. The law was set to take effect Aug. 1.
“He fairly telegraphed it when he issued his preliminary injunction,” Stenehjem said.
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