North Dakota judge strikes down the state’s abortion ban

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A state judge struck down North Dakota’s ban on abortion Thursday, saying that the state constitution creates a fundamental right to access abortion before a fetus is viable.

In his ruling, state District Judge Bruce Romanick also said that the law violates the state constitution because it is too vague.

Romanick was ruling on a request from the state to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the ban in 2022 by what at the time was the sole abortion clinic in North Dakota. The clinic has sinced moved across the border to Minnesota, and the state argued that a trial wouldn’t make a difference. The judge had canceled a trial set for August.

Jack Dura And John Hanna, The Associated Press