发布时间: 1/9/2026
If you’ve been following the fiery legal battles over reproductive rights across the U.S. since the 2022 overturn of Roe v Wade, you know Wyoming has been a key player in these high-stakes fights. Now, there’s a major win for abortion rights advocates in the Cowboy State: abortion will remain legal after Wyoming’s top court struck down two strict anti-abortion laws that had imposed a near-total ban on the procedure.
Wyoming’s Supreme Court Delivers a 4-1 Ruling for Reproductive Freedom
In a landmark 4-1 decision, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that the state’s anti-abortion legislation—including the first state-level ban on abortion pills in the nation—violated the state constitution’s protections for personal healthcare autonomy. The court’s written opinion made it unequivocally clear: “A woman has a fundamental right to make her own health care decisions, including the decision to have an abortion.” This ruling marks a dramatic turnabout for Wyoming, which had previously pushed some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the country.
The Legal Battle: Plaintiffs vs. the State’s Controversial Argument
The case against Wyoming’s anti-abortion laws was brought forward by a diverse coalition of plaintiffs: four women (two of whom are practicing obstetricians), a local abortion advocacy group, and Wellspring Health Access—the only abortion provider in the state, based in Casper. On the opposing side, state lawyers made the contentious argument that abortion couldn’t be protected under Wyoming’s constitution because it doesn’t qualify as healthcare. But the court firmly rejected this stance, prioritizing a person’s inherent right to control their own body and health choices.
Abortion Pills: A Critical Flashpoint in the Reproductive Rights Fight
One of the laws struck down was a 2023 bill passed by Wyoming’s Republican-controlled legislature that made it illegal to “prescribe, dispense, distribute, sell or use any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion.” For context, abortion pills are the most common method of pregnancy termination in the U.S., so this ban would have cut off access for countless people who preferred this safe, private, and non-invasive option. When the bill was first passed, Antonio Serrano, advocacy director for the Wyoming ACLU, spoke out against it, stating “a person's health, not politics, should guide important medical decisions - including the decision to have an abortion.”
Wyoming’s Place in the Post-Roe National Landscape
Wyoming is far from alone in navigating these tense legal clashes. Since the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the 1973 Roe v Wade decision in 2022, dozens of states have passed near-total abortion bans, and many of those bans are now tangled up in ongoing court challenges. In Wyoming, the two laws that were just quashed included a near-total ban that only allowed exceptions for cases where the pregnant person’s life was at immediate risk, or in instances of rape or incest. Both of these restrictive measures are now no longer enforceable in the state.
Reactions: Disappointment from Leaders, Relief from Advocates
Unsurprisingly, Wyoming’s Republican leaders are frustrated with the ruling. Governor Mark Gordon expressed his disappointment on Tuesday, saying, “This ruling may settle, for now, a legal question, but it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself.” He’s now calling on state legislators to pass a constitutional amendment that would cement an abortion ban in the state, pushing for the issue to go before voters this fall. For abortion rights advocates, though, this decision is a hard-won victory that ensures people in Wyoming can continue to access safe, legal abortion care for the time being.