A Wyoming bill to ban abortions that recognizes unborn babies’ right to life statrting from conception has become law.
Lawmakers in both the House and Senate approved the Human Right Act (House Bill 152)earleir this month and Governor Mark Gordon allowed the measure to become law.
Sponsored by state Rep. Rachel Rodriguez-Williams, R-Cody, the bill would protect unborn babies by prohibiting all elective abortions in Wyoming and creating penalties for abortionists who violate the law.
“[A]ll members of the human race are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, the foremost of which is the right to life,” the bill states.
Wyoming already has a law that bans abortions, but a judge blocked it last year. Rodriguez-Williams’s bill would go further than the current ban by protecting all unborn babies, including those conceived in rape and incest. Her bill also clearly states that the ban does not include abortions when the mother’s life is at risk, or miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy care.
At the same time, Wyoming has become the first state to specifically ban abortion pills after Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon signed a bill late Friday to prohibit them.
SBA Pro-Life America’s Western Regional Director Adam Schwend told LifeNews his group is elated at both measures becoming law.
Follow LifeNews on the MeWe social media network for the latest pro-life news free from Facebook’s censorship!
“We thank Gov. Gordon for signing SF 109 to prohibit dangerous abortion drugs that can cause hemorrhaging, the need for surgery and even death. According to Medicaid data, the rate of chemical abortion-related ER visits have increased 500% since mifepristone was approved. Wyoming’s new law will limit the abortion industry’s ability to jeopardize the health and safety of women and girls,” he said. “The new chemical abortion law, along with the Human Life Protection Act and extending postpartum Medicaid coverage, make Wyoming one of the most pro-life states in the country.”
The measure addresses the issues that have tied up Wyoming’s trigger law in litigation and would protect life immediately.
“Instead of being health care, abortion is the intentional termination of the life of an unborn baby. It is within the authority of the state of Wyoming to determine reasonable and necessary restrictions upon abortion, including its prohibition,” the bill states, pointing to language in the state constitution.
Wyoming leaders currently are fighting in court to enforce the trigger law, which went into effect only briefly after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
In August, a judge blocked enforcement of the law, agreeing with pro-abortion groups that the abortion ban may cause irreparable harm to pregnant mothers and abortionists.
Wyoming is one of several states that are battling in court to legally protect unborn babies from abortion. Currently, 14 other states are enforcing pro-life laws that ban or strictly limit abortions, and researchers estimate tens of thousands of unborn babies’ lives are being saved.
In June, the Supreme Court overturned Roe in a historic victory for life and returned the power to legislate abortion to the people. Because of Dobbs v. Jackson, states may protect unborn babies from abortion for the first time in nearly 50 years.
All pro-life laws allow abortions when the mother’s life is at risk and, in some states, cases of rape and incest. These make up a very small percent of all abortions in the U.S. Research from the Charlotte Lozier Institute found about 96 percent of abortions are for purely elective reasons.
