BISMARCK, ND (KVRR) – North Dakota’s only active abortion clinic law was supposed to go into effect at midnight, but has been temporarily locked by South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick in Bismarck.
The court granted Red River Women’s Clinic’s request for a temporary restraining order barring the ban from taking effect.
The court found that North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley “attempted to prematurely execute the trigger language” when he set July 28, 2022 as the day the ban would begin.
The court says certification was improper until the United States Supreme Court issued its certified judgment on July 26, 2022.
Statement by Meetra Mehdizadeh, lawyer at the Center for Reproductive Rights:“We are relieved that a North Dakota state court has blocked its devastating gun ban for now. If allowed to go into effect, this near-total abortion ban would shut down the only abortion clinic in state, leaving North Dakotans without an in-state clinic to turn to for essential health care. We will do everything in our power to fight this ban and keep abortion accessible in Dakota of the North for as long as possible.”
The ban would force patients to travel hundreds of miles for abortion care until the clinic eventually opens a new location in Moorhead.
Abortion remains legal in Minnesota.
Anti-abortion protesters say they plan to continue spreading their message on the Minnesota side.
KVRR is following this story and will bring you more details as they become available.
