What’s Next After North Dakota’s Abortion Ban Reinstated

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service ) – Reproductive-rights advocates said they are still considering next steps following a court ruling which reinstated North Dakota’s abortion ban. In the meantime, they are laying out what the situation looks like for both patients and providers.

The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling calling the state’s ban was unconstitutionally vague. The law was adopted in 2023 after the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal protections several months prior.

Amy Jacobson, executive director of Prairie Action ND, said the outcome creates health dangers for patients and legal confusion for physicians. She stressed it does not mean there are travel bans to states where abortion is legal, including neighboring Minnesota.

“It is legal to cross states and go and receive care, and we really want people to know that,” Jacobson stressed. “Sometimes intentionally, abortion bans are intended to scare people, and one of the ways that they scare people is making them think that they can’t receive care in other places.”