ND Supreme Court Justices: Justice Daniel Crothers, Justice Douglas Bahr, Chief Justice Jon Jensen, Justice Jerod Tufte and Justice Lisa Fair McEvers Via NDCourts.gov
The North Dakota Supreme court issued a ruling Friday to uphold the state’s abortion ban. The court failed to reach the supermajority needed to overturn the law, reversing a lower court’s decision from last fall that decided women had a right to seek an abortion.
Three justices found the law unconstitutional—Daniel Crothers, Lisa Fair McEvers, and Daniel Narum—while Chief Justice Jon Jensen and Justice Jerod Tufte found it constitutional, according to first reporting by Mary Steurer from the North Dakota Monitor. Without a four-justice supermajority, the law stands.
The ban, signed by former Governor Doug Burgum in April 2023, prohibits abortion except in cases of rape or incest within six weeks of pregnancy, or when the pregnancy poses a serious physical health threat. Psychological conditions don’t qualify as serious health risks under the law.
Reproductive health care doctors and an abortion clinic challenged the law, arguing it endangered pregnant women and was unconstitutionally vague about when health exceptions apply. Despite this, the state maintained the ban protects unborn children and isn’t vague.
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