Judge keeps North Dakota abortion ban from taking effect
A North Dakota judge says he'll keep the state’s ban on abortion from taking effect because there's a "substantial probability” that a constitutional challenge to the law will succeed in court
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge ruled Monday that he will keep the state's ban on abortion from taking effect, saying there's a "substantial probability” that a constitutional challenge to the law will succeed.
Judge Bruce Romanick's ruling means abortion is still legal in North Dakota, though the state's only clinic — the Red River Women's Clinic of Fargo — shut down as it challenged the ban and has moved across the border to neighboring Minnesota.
Romanick last month rejected a request from North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley to let the law take effect while the Red River clinic's lawsuit went forward. Romanick based his earlier decision on several factors, but Wrigley argued he had not sufficiently considered the clinic’s chances of prevailing in court. The North Dakota Supreme Court agreed and told Romanick to take another look.
In his earlier ruling, Romanick noted the clinic’s uphill battle. But in his ruling Monday, he said the clinic has a “substantial probability” of succeeding, though he noted that the question of whether abortion is a constitutional right in North Dakota has been contentious and has not been decided by the state's highest court.
