Wyoming's highest court ruled Tuesday that the ban on the abortion pill is illegal because the law infringes on women's right to make decisions about their health.
This decision represents a setback for anti-abortion activists in the United States, who have been lobbying to reduce access to this treatment, after the US Supreme Court overturned in 2022 the federal guarantee of the right to abortion that had prevailed for half a century.
In 2023, the conservative state of Wyoming (west) passed a law banning almost all abortions, except in very limited circumstances.
Local Republican legislators also passed another bill prohibiting "prescribing, dispensing, distributing, selling or using any drug for the purpose of procuring or performing an abortion."
Challenged in court by associations and health professionals, these laws have been suspended by the local justice system, pending a ruling from the Wyoming Supreme Court.
On Tuesday, its judges ruled that they were contrary to the Wyoming Constitution, by a vote of four to one.
"The decision to terminate or continue a pregnancy falls within the woman's health decision, protected by" the state constitution, the court wrote in an explanatory note.
"An adult's right to make their own health decisions is a fundamental right because of the very specific language used" in this text, according to the court.
The decision cancels the laws passed in 2023, but clarifies that legislators are free to put the issue to voters in the future.
A possibility that the Republican governor of Wyoming, Mark Gordon, immediately wanted to implement on Tuesday, while expressing his disappointment.
"This decision may settle a legal question for now, but it does not settle the moral question and does not reflect the position of many Wyoming citizens, including myself," he responded.
"It is time for this issue to be put to a vote by the people. (...) A constitutional amendment submitted to the people of Wyoming would override all judicial decisions," he added.
While the right to abortion is widely recognized in most developed countries, it remains a major dividing line in the United States, where the left and right are irreconcilable on the issue.
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