CHEYENNE (LifeSiteNews) — The Wyoming legislature has given final approval to a bill to ban abortion and replace the state’s existing abortion trigger law to account for legal challenges.
The Life Is a Human Right Act forbids abortion by any surgical or chemical method except in cases of rape, incest, lethal fetal abnormality, or to save the life of a mother. It also forbids the use of public funds to pay for abortions.
Republican Gov. Mark Gordon signed the state’s current trigger law, to ban most abortions upon the reversal of Roe v. Wade, last March, but a court blocked it in July at the request of abortionists. A trial for that case is slated for this coming December.
In the meantime, the legislature adopted an amendment to the new bill proposed by Republican state Rep. Barry Crago declaring that it would only take effect if the old trigger law is deemed unconstitutional.
LifeSiteNews previously reported that the Act passed the Wyoming House 46-16, and now it has passed the state Senate as well by a 25-5 vote, the Cody Enterprise reports. The Senate added the exceptions for rape and incest, which the House approved 49-10.
“It’s not exactly what we would have liked,” Republican state Rep. Chip Nieman said, “but we all understand compromise and trying to work with both sides to address concerns is an important part of making legislation move ahead.”
The Life Is a Human Right Act now goes to the governor’s desk for his signature.
The ability of states to directly ban abortion for the first time in half a century has sparked a flurry of activity across the country. Planned Parenthood has suspended abortions and/or closed locations in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe last summer, and pro-life attorneys general have declared their intentions to enforce their states’ duly enacted abortion prohibitions.
But leftists prosecutors in various localities have vowed not to enforce such laws, and pro-abortion activists have refocused efforts on interstate distribution of abortion pills, supporting interstate travel for abortion, and enshrining “rights” to abortion in state constitutions, effectively insulating the practice from ordinary state legislation.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden has called on Congress to codify a “right” to abortion in federal law, which would not only restore but expand upon the Roe status quo, by making it illegal for states to pass virtually any pro-life laws. Democrats currently lack the votes to do so, but whether they get those votes is sure to be one of the major issues of the 2024 elections.