This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
Wyoming’s legal battle over abortion access is officially headed to the state’s Supreme Court.
The high court scheduled oral arguments for April 16 at 1:30 p.m. in Cheyenne. Justices will consider whether Wyoming’s two near-total abortion bans enacted in 2023 are constitutional.
They’ll hear arguments from the state, which is appealing a district court decision that found the laws violate pregnant people’s right to make their own health care decisions, which is protected in the state constitution.
Lawyers representing abortion access advocates will then give their oral arguments.
Justices have also agreed to hear from lawyers from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
This comes after justices denied amicus, or “friend of the court,” briefs from an anti-abortion group, including state lawmakers, physicians and the nonprofit Right to Life Wyoming.
The April hearing has been years in the making. A similar abortion access case was headed for the court in 2023, before the state enacted more laws which halted that case.
The hearing will be open to the public and be livestreamed online. An opinion may not come for another six months. Chief Justice Katie Fox is retiring this spring, but she’ll still be part of that ruling, according to court staff.
Separately, a clinic in Casper is challenging two new abortion restriction laws enacted this year. They impose strict regulations on clinics providing procedural abortions and require women to get a transvaginal ultrasound 48 hours before taking abortion pills.
Though access is now limited, abortion remains legal in Wyoming.