By Michael Gryboski, Editor Monday, November 24, 2025

The North Dakota Supreme Court has narrowly upheld a state law that bans abortions in nearly all circumstances, overturning a lower court ruling against it.

Last Friday, the state’s highest court released an opinion in the case of Access Independent Health Services, Inc., et al v. Drew H. Wrigley et al., which centered on whether a 2023 state law banning abortion is constitutional.

Although three of the five justices who heard the case found the ban unconstitutional, North Dakota requires a supermajority of the court to strike down a law on constitutional grounds.

State Supreme Court Justices Daniel Crothers and Lisa Fair McEvers found the ban unconstitutional, with Daniel Narum, a district court judge who sat in place of recused Justice Douglas Bahr, joining them.

Chief Justice Jon Jensen and Justice Jerod Tufte ruled that the law was constitutional, with Tufte writing that the argument that the ban was “unconstitutionally vague” was invalid.

“Because the Plaintiffs have presented only hypothetical scenarios and have not demonstrated the statute is vague as applied to any actual conduct, their facial challenge fails to satisfy our established precedent,” he wrote.

“The serious health risk exception does not present a clear answer to every imaginable situation. No statute can. This statute provides minimum guidelines to avoid arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, and also provides fair warning to a reasonable person about what conduct is prohibited.”

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley celebrated the decision in a statement, according to The Associated Press.

“The Supreme Court has upheld this important pro-life legislation, enacted by the people’s Legislature. The Attorney General’s office has the solemn responsibility of defending the laws of North Dakota, and today those laws have been upheld,” stated Wrigley.

The American Civil Liberties Union of North Dakota called the decision “deeply painful to all of us who believe that the right to control our own bodies and to make such deeply personal decisions is ours, not the government’s.”

“Private decisions about abortion should not be made by politicians but be made by pregnant people in consultation with their doctors – who should be able to treat their patients according to their best medical judgement,” stated the ACLU of North Dakota in a statement.

“Everyone deserves the right to control their own bodies and to make their own decisions about their lives and futures, free from punishment, judgment, or political interference. We’ll keep fighting. We hope you’ll join us.”

In April 2023, then-North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum signed the law banning abortion in all circumstances except for a serious medical emergency for the mother or cases of rape or incest if the unborn baby is six weeks or younger.

Red River Women’s Clinic of Fargo sued to overturn the law in July of that year, and Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled it unconstitutional in September 2024.

News Source : https://www.christianpost.com/news/north-dakota-supreme-court-upholds-state-abortion-ban.html