Jul 27, 2022 - Health

State court blocks North Dakota's abortion trigger ban from taking effect

Oriana González

Abortion rights activists protest outside the U.S. Supreme Court on the last day of its term on June 30. Photo: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

A state judge in North Dakota on Wednesday temporarily blocked the state's trigger abortion ban, a day before it was scheduled to take effect.

Driving the news: The state's only abortion clinic — Red River Women's Clinic — had sued the state arguing the ban violated the North Dakota Constitution.

What they're saying: "We're relieved that a North Dakota state court has blocked its devastating trigger ban for now. If allowed to go into effect, this near-total abortion ban would close the state's sole abortion clinic, leaving North Dakotans with no clinic within the state to turn to for essential health care," said Meetra Mehdizadeh, staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the clinic.

"We will do everything in our power to fight this ban and keep abortion accessible in North Dakota for as long as possible."

Details: Under North Dakota's ban, abortions would be illegal in the state except in cases in which one is needed to prevent the pregnant person's death.

Abortion providers could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Go deeper: Dashboard: The latest on Roe v. Wade and abortion

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State court blocks North Dakota's abortion trigger ban from taking effect

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