Wyoming Supreme Court strikes down abortion bans, rules women have right to make ‘own health care decisions’

January 7, 2026

The Wyoming Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court decision and struck down two state abortion bans in a 4-1 decision released Tuesday.

The Christian Post reports that in the case of State v. Johnson, the Wyoming Supreme Court struck down the 2023 law known as the Life is a Human Right Act, as well as another law banning abortion drugs in most situations.

The majority opinion, authored by Chief Justice Lynne J. Boomgaarden, upheld a lower court ruling that concluded that the laws violated Article 1, § 38 of the Wyoming Constitution, which guarantees people “the right to make his or her own health care decisions.”

Boomgaarden wrote: “Certainly, the legislature enacts laws that regulate medical care in the state, but when such a law restricts an individual’s constitutional right to make a health care decision, this Court must interpret the constitution and determine whether the restriction is permissible.”

A dissenting opinion from Justice Kari Jo Gray noted that abortion laws “constitute a ‘reasonable and necessary’ restriction by the legislature on the right of a pregnant woman to make her own health care decisions for the purpose of preserving prenatal life at all stages of development.”

Gray added, “The Wyoming Legislature decided prenatal life is entitled to protection from conception, and we are not at liberty to second-guess the wisdom or soundness of that policy judgment.”

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, a Republican, condemned the ruling and called for the state legislature to create a state constitutional amendment that would allow such abortion bans to be passed.

Gordon stated, “It is time for this issue to go before the people for a vote, and I believe it should go before them this fall. A constitutional amendment taken to the people of Wyoming would trump any and all judicial decisions.”

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