MINNEAPOLIS — North Dakota’s abortion ruling has been felt in Minnesota. Once again, abortion is legal in the state after a district court judge struck down the state’s abortion ban.
North Dakota State Director for Gender Justice Christina Sambor said her organization was co-counsel on the lawsuit.
“It can be hard to be in a place that feels really one-sided sometimes in how we discuss some of these issues, and so to see a really thorough legal analysis like this and to really point out how much it is really out of sync with the rights that are guaranteed to citizens in North Dakota. It’s a really great day,” she said.
Cathy Blaeser, co-executive director at Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life, doesn’t feel the same way.
“There's no protection for unborn children at any point of gestational age at any point in the pregnancy. And so, they're just abandoned. They're abandoned to a profit-seeking abortion industry that only wants to take their money and take your child,” Blaeser said.
University of Minnesota Law Professor Jill Hasday said the judge cited two main arguments in his judgement.
“The basic idea there is the state can’t pass a law that is so unclear people don’t have enough of a sense of whether they violated it or not,” she said. “The first argument is that it’s void for void for vagueness because doctors are not able to rely on these exceptions because there is always a chance they’ll be second-guessed later. And then the second argument is that the North Dakota Constitution guarantees women like all North Dakotans a right to life, liberty and happiness, and this gives women a basic right to just have autonomy over themselves.”
Hasday said it’s highly likely the ruling will get appealed, but it won’t appear in federal court.
“One thing to know is that state courts are the ultimate interpreter of what a state constitution means, so this wouldn’t be appealable to a federal court,” Hasday said.
She said this call will go to the North Dakota Supreme Court.
Blaeser hopes it will make its way to the state’s high court because she doesn’t want to see North Dakota turn into Minnesota.
“It is just a sad day for North Dakota. They have done so much to try and protect women, to try and protect unborn children… from profit seeking abortion facilities, profit seeking abortion providers who really only want to provide an abortion to a woman,” she said.
Sambor said if it gets appealed that will easily add another year of litigation, but she’s hopeful the outcome will be in her favor if it goes that far.
“This ruling means that doctors are free to practice the standard of care and give your loved one’s emergency medical care when they need it and not to delay,” she said. “I think it’s just so important that people not feel like their basic rights are impossible to defend because of where they live.”