North Dakota Defends Abortion Ban in Court: “Abortion Isn’t a Right Protected by the Constitution”

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Nov 29, 2022   |   4:44PM   |   Washington, DC

North Dakota officials told the state’s highest court today to let the state’s abortion ban take effect so it can save babies from abortions.

North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley appealed a state judge’s order Monday blocking the state from protecting unborn babies from abortion. Today, attorneys from his office defended that appeal.

In a brief to the state Supreme Court, Wrigley challenged the order and asked to be allowed to enforce the 2007 state abortion ban. The law was supposed to go into effect this summer after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but the only abortion facility in North Dakota, the Red River Women’s Clinic, sued the state. Interestingly, the abortion facility recently moved from Fargo across the border to Moorhead, Minnesota; but it still is challenging the ban.

In August, South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick issued a temporary order blocking law, which prohibits the killing of unborn babies in abortions except in cases of rape, incest and risks to the mother’s life.

Today, Matthew Sagsveen, an attorney for the state, told justices on the state high court that Judge Romanick “misconstrued the law” by granting the injunction.

“Abortion isn’t a fundamental right protected by the constitution,” he argued.

Meetra Mehdizadeh, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, slammed the law and falsely claimed the aboriton ban would lead to denying medical care for women.

North Dakota Chief Justice Jon Jensen said after the hearing that the case would be taken :under advisement” and he gave no time on when a decision would be made.

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In his appeal, Wrigley said the judge’s order was wrong because it asserted that the state Constitution is “clear and obvious” about allowing abortions, according to the report. The attorney general said there is no constitutional right to abortion.

“Such leaps in analysis do not appear to be the product of a rational mental process leading to a reasoned determination. The district court’s determination on this issue is diminished and unsupported by its own analysis and admission that the ‘answer to whether the Statute is constitutional is not obvious,’” Wrigley wrote.

Approximately 1,100 unborn babies are aborted in North Dakota every year. It is not clear if the Red River abortion facility plans to move back if its lawsuit succeeds.

North Dakota is one of nine states that are battling in court to legally protect unborn babies from abortion. Currently, 13 other states are enforcing pro-life laws that ban or strictly limit abortions, saving more than 100,000 unborn babies’ lives, according to SBA Pro-Life America.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a historic victory for life and returned the power to legislate abortion to the people. Because of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, states may protect unborn babies from abortion for the first time in nearly 50 years. New research estimates state pro-life laws have saved as many as 10,000 unborn babies’ lives since June.

All pro-life laws allow abortions when the mother’s life is at risk and, in some states, cases of rape and incest. These make up a very small percent of all abortions in the U.S. Research from the Charlotte Lozier Institute found about 96 percent of abortions are for purely elective reasons.

As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, with a 6-3 majority ruling in the Dobbs case that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The high court also ruled 6-3 uphold the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban so states can further limit abortions and to get rid of the false viability standard.

Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the judgment but, in his concurring opinion, disagreed with the reasoning and said he wanted to keep abortions legal but with a new standard.

“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer authored a joint dissent condemning the decision as enabling states to enact “draconian” restrictions on women.

Polls show Americans are pro-life on abortion and a new national poll shows 75% of Americans essentially agree with the Supreme Court overturning Roe.

Despite false reports that abortion bans would prevent doctors from treating pregnant women for miscarriages or ectopic pregnancies, pro-life doctors confirm that is not the case. Some 35 states have laws making it clear that miscarriage is not abortion and every state with an abortion ban allows treatment for both.