North Dakota
Abortion is illegal again in North Dakota after court reverses a judge’s earlier decision
BISMARCK, N.D. — Abortion is again illegal in North Dakota after the state’s Supreme Court on Friday couldn’t muster the required majority to uphold a judge’s ruling that struck down the state’s ban last year.
The law makes it a felony crime for anyone to perform an abortion, though it specifically protects patients from prosecution. Doctors could be prosecuted and penalized by as much as five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Three justices agreed that the ban is unconstitutionally vague. The other two justices said the law is not unconstitutional.
The North Dakota Constitution requires at least four of the five justices to agree for a law to be found unconstitutional, a high bar. Not enough members of the court joined together to affirm the lower court ruling.
In his opinion, Justice Jerod Tufte said the natural rights guaranteed by the state constitution in 1889 do not extend to abortion rights. He also said the law “provides adequate and fair warning to those attempting to comply.”
North Dakota Republican Atty. Gen. Drew Wrigley welcomed the ruling, saying, “The Supreme Court has upheld this important pro-life legislation, enacted by the people’s Legislature. The attorney general’s office has the solemn responsibility of defending the laws of North Dakota, and today those laws have been upheld.”
Republican state Sen. Janne Myrdal, who introduced the 2023 legislation that became the law banning abortion, said she was “thrilled and grateful that two justices that are highly respected saw the truth of the matter, that this is fully constitutional for the mother and for the unborn child and thereafter for that sake.”
The challengers called the decision “a devastating loss for pregnant North Dakotans.”
“As a majority of the Court found, this cruel and confusing ban is incomprehensible to physicians. The ban forces doctors to choose between providing care and going to prison,” Center for Reproductive Rights senior staff attorney Meetra Mehdizadeh said. “Abortion is healthcare, and North Dakotans deserve to be able to access this care without delay caused by confusion about what the law allows.”
The ruling means access to abortion in North Dakota will be outlawed. Even after a judge had struck down the ban last year, the only scenarios for a patient to obtain an abortion in North Dakota had been for life- or health-preserving reasons in a hospital.
The state’s only abortion provider relocated in 2022 from Fargo to nearby Moorhead, Minn.
Justice Daniel Crothers, one of the three judges to vote against the ban, wrote that the district court decision wasn’t wrong.
“The vagueness in the law relates to when an abortion can be performed to preserve the life and health of the mother,” Crothers wrote. “After striking this invalid provision, the remaining portions of the law would be inoperable.”
North Dakota’s newly confirmed ban prohibits the performance of an abortion and declares it a felony. The only exceptions are for rape or incest for an abortion in the first six weeks of pregnancy — before many women know they are pregnant — and to prevent the woman’s death or a “serious health risk” to her.
North Dakota joins 12 other states enforcing bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy. Four others bar it at or around six weeks of gestational age.
Judge Bruce Romanick had struck down the ban the GOP-led Legislature passed in 2023, less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade and opened the door to the state-level bans, largely turning the abortion battle to state courts and legislatures.
The Red River Women’s Clinic — the formerly sole abortion clinic in North Dakota — and several physicians challenged the law. The state appealed the 2024 ruling that overturned the ban.
The judge and the Supreme Court each denied requests by the state to keep the abortion ban in effect during the appeal. Those decisions allowed patients with pregnancy complications to seek care without fear of delay because of the law, Mehdizadeh previously said.
Dura writes for the Associated Press.
North Dakota
Viewpoint: Success of Dakota Access Pipeline leads to rise in North Dakota’s Legacy Fund
With the Strait of Hormuz blocked, the United States has good reason to take stock of how well it has invested in domestic oil and gas production. North Dakota set the early pace, pioneering the unconventional drilling and completion techniques that now power the industry, and managing its economic and regulatory environment responsibly along the way.
In the past, the Dakota Access Pipeline faced unbelievable opposition. It has been 10 years since protests erupted against it, leading to more than 100 arrests and, more recently, a $345 million ruling against Greenpeace. At the height of the controversy, DAPL became a national flashpoint. In 2021, I authored an opinion column supporting DAPL, pointing out that the Army Corps of Engineers extensively reviewed the project. It was subject to more than 1,000 permits and approvals. The Corps determined that the risk of incident was “not just low, but remote and speculative.”
Since that time and despite all the opposition, DAPL has been an undeniable success. A decade later, the results speak for themselves. It has supported oil production in the United States and now safely transports more than 50% of the crude oil from the Bakken to U.S. refineries. In doing so, it has helped reduce reliance on less efficient transportation methods like rail and strengthened the broader U.S. energy supply chain. It has and continues to strengthen the tax base that feeds North Dakota’s Legacy Fund, which was designed to turn petroleum wealth into long-term public savings.
The Legacy Fund functions as North Dakota’s long-term savings account, with earnings helping to fund priorities like property tax relief, local infrastructure projects and highways. It was created to use oil and gas tax revenues to support long-term economic stability in North Dakota. To date, there has been over $2.5 billion in distributions as it boosts local businesses and projects, especially in those towns and cities that do not have oil revenues. The Legacy Fund now tops $14.25 billion, with revenues drawn from a 30% share of taxes on petroleum production and extraction.
About 10 years ago, the fund was roughly $3.8 billion. Since DAPL came online, this critical fund has grown by more than $10 billion. The remarkable growth underscores the scale of DAPL’s contribution, which represents a significant share of the Legacy Fund’s inflows. Beyond the Legacy Fund, the industry’s broader contribution can be seen in the Common Schools Trust Fund, which has grown from $200 million 20 years ago to $8.7 billion through lease sales and mineral royalties on state-owned property.
State officials estimate that shutting DAPL would reduce revenues by about $1.2 billion in the first year and roughly $116 million thereafter. A shutdown of DAPL would also result in an estimated $102 million in losses to the Legacy Fund. It would cause an immediate loss of 600 to 750 full-time jobs, along with 2,000-3,000 permanent North Dakota jobs. These numbers represent livelihoods and the economic stability for thousands of families across the state.
As a former mayor, I applaud the fund’s support of local infrastructure projects. Many towns face critical infrastructure needs, with few paths to fund them. The Legacy Fund can fill these gaps for many North Dakota. I have seen first-hand how investments in roads, water systems, and public facilities can shape a community’s future — and how difficult those investments can be without reliable funding.
DAPL has helped sustain critical oil production, tax revenues, and economic stability for North Dakota. The Legacy Fund’s growth is now a multibillion-dollar asset benefiting every citizen of North Dakota. Ten years after the protests, the debate should be grounded in results. The pipeline has operated safely, delivered measurable benefits, and strengthened both state and national interests. It remains a key piece of infrastructure for both North Dakota and the broader U.S. energy economy. As the United States works to build energy dominance in an uncertain world, North Dakota offers a playbook worth following.
Patrice Douglass is an attorney and former chairman of the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. She currently serves as a strategic advisor to Grow America’s Infrastructure Now (GAIN).
Summer is here, and that means our annual Summer Reading Program is underway. This year’s theme is “Unearth a Story!” and focuses on dinosaurs, archaeology and history.
We have a variety of programs for all ages, including story times for preschoolers and school-age children, movies for kids and adults, crafts and special presentations. This summer, we are bringing back crowd favorite The Mixed Nuts, who will perform their family-friendly comedy show at 1 p.m. June 24. We will also host a puppet performance by Sonflower Puppets at 1 p.m. July 15. All programs are free and open to the public.
We are once again partnering with the Bank of North Dakota to give College SAVE certificates to all youth reading program finishers. When children age 18 and younger complete their reading logs, they will receive money from the Bank of North Dakota to contribute to a 529 college savings account. All finishers will also be entered into a drawing for one of 10 additional $529 scholarships at the end of the summer program.
We are also excited to announce a new partnership with the FM RedHawks. Children enrolled in the school-age summer reading program for grades K-5 can sign up to become one of Hawkeye’s Bookworms. Participants will receive four additional prizes from the RedHawks, including tickets to a RedHawks home game. No additional forms or reading requirements are needed to participate.
Thank you to the Bank of North Dakota and the FM RedHawks for supporting our summer reading program.
Lastly, we are pleased to announce that the Leach Public Library is now fine-free. If you have been reluctant to use the library because of overdue fines on your account, those fines are now being waived. If you have a long-lost library book at home, simply return it and no fine will be charged.
We are excited to remove this barrier, which has often prevented people from using both the library’s physical collection and digital services available throughout the Libby app. Fines will still apply to lost or damaged materials, as well as circulating technology such as iPads and Launchpad tablets.
For more information about fines or library cards, please contact the library.
Have a safe and happy June! We look forward to seeing you at the Leach Public Library!
Rachel Kercher is the youth services librarian at the Leach Public Library.
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