What: A North Dakota judge struck down the state’s abortion ban Thursday, ruling that “broad guarantees of personal liberty in the constitution of this conservative, Republican-dominated state create a fundamental right to abortion before a fetus is viable.”
Why it matters: “District Judge Bruce Romanick also said that the law is unconstitutional because it is too vague to be enforced fairly. He agreed with critics who said the law wasn’t clear how its limited exceptions applied — allowing doctors to be prosecuted if other colleagues later disagreed with their medical decisions. … In his ruling, Romanick cited how the North Dakota Constitution guarantees ‘inalienable rights,’ including ‘life and liberty.’ Those guarantees in turn protect women’s personal autonomy and their ability to make medical decisions and ‘ultimately control (their) own destiny,’ he concluded.”
Source: Associated Press