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On Friday, the North Dakota Supreme Court, in a narrow 3-2 decision, reinstated a near-total abortion ban, asserting that it aligns with the state constitution. This legislation initially emerged as a trigger law following the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, specifically in the wake of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision. In 2023, North Dakota lawmakers replaced the trigger ban with a similar law, allowing exceptions only to protect the mother’s life and health, or in cases of rape or incest, but only within the first six weeks of pregnancy. Doug Burghum, who was North Dakota’s governor and is now the U.S. Secretary of the Interior, signed this bill into law in 2023. However, a lower court struck down the law in 2024, prompting an appeal by North Dakota Attorney General Drew H. Wrigley, leading to the Supreme Court’s recent reinstatement.
Under this reinstated law, doctors who perform abortions could face severe penalties, including a felony charge, up to five years in prison, and a $10,000 fine.
State Senator Janne Myrdal, who spearheaded the 2023 legislation that resulted in the anti-abortion law, expressed her satisfaction with the ruling in an interview with a local news outlet.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley also commended the court’s decision.
Pro-life organizations are celebrating this ruling as a significant victory.
Under the reinstated law, any medical practitioner who performs an abortion can be charged with a felony and face up to five years in prison, along with a $10,000 fine.
Ana Tobiasz, a doctor of maternal-fetal medicine in Bismarck, N.D., and a plaintiff in the case, said most medical providers in the state were fearful of repercussions even when the abortion ban had been halted in 2024. She expects to see more effects on care under this ban, which she says makes it hard to interpret when medical exceptions are, and aren’t, permitted.
“It is extremely confusing,” she said. “What I foresee is people going back to being fearful of, ‘Is this actually going to meet the exception?’”
In Friday’s close ruling, three justices agreed the abortion ban was unconstitutionally vague when it came to medical exceptions. But state law requires four of five justices to agree in order for a law to be found unconstitutional.
State Sen. Janne Myrdal (R-ND19), who introduced the 2023 legislation that became the anti-abortion law, told a local news outlet that she is:
[T]hrilled and grateful that two justices that are highly respected saw the truth of the matter, that this is fully constitutional for the mother and for the unborn child and thereafter for that sake.
North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley also praised the decision.
The Supreme Court has upheld this important pro-life legislation, enacted by the people’s Legislature. The Attorney General’s office has the solemn responsibility of defending the laws of North Dakota, and today those laws have been upheld.
The organizations that stand for Life are also rejoicing at this victory.
VICTORY: North Dakota’s State Supreme Court has allowed the state’s pro-life law to go back into effect after reversing the decision from the lower court, making abortion illegal again and protecting babies once more!
— Students for Life of America | Pro-Life Gen (@StudentsforLife) November 22, 2025
While the death merchants are weeping and gnashing their teeth.
Dredging up laws from the Dark Ages, North Dakota’s Supreme Court sets back the right of women in that state to make decisions about their own bodies, also preventing doctors from making the best decisions for patients. Justice denied! pic.twitter.com/9uIGiTM1e3
— NY Women for Action (@NYWomen4Action) November 22, 2025
After the 2022 Dobbs decision, the Red River Women’s Clinic, which was the state’s sole abortion provider and also a plaintiff in the action, moved their offices across the state’s border to Minnesota.
The pro-life presence in North Dakota remains strong, with pregnancy resource centers, maternity homes, and educational arms in the three major cities of Bismarck, Fargo, and Grand Forks, as well as outlying areas. Organizations like North Dakota Right to Life, Lutherans for Life, North Dakota Family Alliance, and McKenzie County Right to Life, which touts itself as the oldest and largest pro-life organization in Western North Dakota, are resident within the state and available 24/7 to provide education, resources, and pregnancy housing and other assistance. This ruling not only benefits but also strengthens the pro-life efforts to help women and protect the lives of the unborn.
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