North Dakota passes abortion ban for almost all cases

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) signed one of the strictest anti-abortion bills in the United States into law Monday.

Senate Bill 2150 makes abortion illegal in North Dakota after six weeks of gestation, with very rare exceptions. Even before the six weeks, abortion is restricted except in the cases of rape, incest or medical emergency. North Dakota now joins several states (mostly in the South) in heavily restricting abortion since the Supreme Court of the United States overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. Other states have tried to pass bans, only for them to get blocked by the courts.

“This bill clarifies and refines existing state law … and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state,” Burgum said in a statement after signing.

Despite the fact that this ban is supposed to take effect immediately, its longevity is up in the air as the North Dakota Supreme Court’s recent  injunction to block a previous abortion ban stays in effect. The injunction will stay in effect while a lawsuit on that ban’s constitutionality is debated.

Abortion care was hard to come by in North Dakota even before Roe v. Wade fell, as there was only one abortion clinic in the entire state’s population of over 777,000. After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision was announced, the clinic — which was located in Fargo, N.Dak. — relocated across the border into Moorhead, Minn., in a state where abortion is still a legal practice.