North Dakota
North Dakota’s overturned abortion ban won’t be in effect during appeal, court rules
North Dakota’s abortion ban will not be enforced while the state appeals an earlier decision that found it unconstitutional, the state’s highest court ruled Friday.
That appeal has yet to fully play out in the state Supreme Court after a judge struck down the law in September.
North Dakota has had no abortion providers since the only one moved from Fargo to neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota, in 2022. The only scenarios in which North Dakotans can currently obtain an abortion in the state would be for life- or health-preserving reasons at a hospital.
The plaintiffs had contended that keeping the overturned ban from being enforced was important for patients with pregnancy complications who go to a hospital seeking medical care that might be delayed because of the law.
Attorneys for the state had asked the North Dakota Supreme Court to let the ban be enforced pending appeal. They said a stay “is warranted because this case presents serious, difficult, and unresolved constitutional questions that are of profound importance to the people of this State,” among other reasons.
State District Judge Bruce Romanick had earlier denied such a request, saying: “It would be non-sensical for this Court to keep a law it has found to be unconstitutional in effect pending appeal.”
The Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents the abortion clinic and several physicians who challenged the law, opposed enforcement of the overturned ban. The court heard oral arguments on the state’s request in November.
In the three-member majority opinion, Justice Daniel Crothers cited several legal reasons against the state’s arguments, writing at one point: “The upshot of the State’s argument is that any decision that recognizes a previously unobserved constitutional right should warrant a stay. We reject the request to adopt such a tenuous connection between the proposition advanced by the State and our precedent.”
The plaintiffs welcomed the decision.
“Today’s decision to keep the abortion ban blocked was the only logical outcome,” Meetra Mehdizadeh, senior staff attorney at the center, said in a statement. “People are dying without access to abortion, and still the State sought to stop pregnant North Dakotans facing dangerous situations from getting the care they need. It’s shameful. We will not stop fighting until this ban is struck down once and for all.”
In a statement, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said: “This is only a decision on the stay motion, not on the constitutional merits of the legislation. North Dakota will continue moving forward to fully litigate this matter before the state Supreme Court, where we intend to establish that the law passed by our legislature is clearly constitutional.”
The case has had a winding road since the Red River Women’s Clinic initially challenged the state’s previous abortion ban in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.
In 2023, North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature revised the state’s abortion laws. That law criminalized the performance of an abortion as a felony, with the only exceptions to save the life of a mother or to prevent a “serious health risk” to her. The ban also allowed for abortions in cases of rape or incest but only up to six weeks gestation, which is often before many women know they are pregnant. The plaintiffs said the law was unconstitutionally vague and its health exception too narrow.
Republican state Sen. Janne Myrdal, who introduced the 2023 bill that became law, said she doesn’t view Friday’s decision as a setback.
“It’s not a reflection of the validity of the constitutionality of the law … and I don’t read anything more into that fact, actually,” Myrdal said.
A Center for Reproductive Rights spokesperson said the clinic has no current plans to return to North Dakota.
North Dakota
UND men’s basketball can’t overcome North Dakota State in five-point loss
FARGO — UND coach Paul Sather likened this year’s Fighting Hawks team to a scene from the 1994 movie Shawshank Redemption.
“Sometimes you have to crawl through a mile of you know what to get to the other side,” he said after UND’s 87-82 loss at North Dakota State on Saturday evening at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex.
UND lost its sixth Summit League game this season, sitting at 2-6 through the first half of conference play.
The Hawks had numerous chances to take the lead against the Bison. Treysen Eaglestaff hit a 3-pointer to come within two points, 76-74, with under four minutes left in the game — just after Mier Panoam, who had 11 points in the loss, fouled out of the game.
Mambourou Mara fouled out with 1:05 left to play.
Dariyus Woodson hit a triple to cut NDSU’s lead to 83-81 with 14.5 seconds left.
Deng Mayar then fouled out, sending Tajavis Miller to the line. Miller extended the Bison’s lead back to four.
Eaglestaff missed a late three, but Amar Kuljuhovic was fouled.
Kuljuhovic went 1-for-2 from the line with four seconds left — UND was 21-for-35 from the free-throw line — and it was too late for the Hawks to answer.
“There were missed opportunities throughout for us,” Sather said. “They’re a very good team. They put you in defensive positions that are difficult, challenging. I thought our guys’ effort and energy was pretty good throughout the game. We had some lapses here and there. As far as how we wanted to guard them and how we wanted to play against them, I think it was the right way.”
The Bison improved to 16-6 and 5-2 in the Summit League, winning their last five straight.
For NDSU coach Dave Richman, free throws and defensive stops were the difference in the game.
“Treysen Eaglestaff is such a talented player, you put a lot of focus on a guy like that,” he said. “So all of a sudden you start getting spread out a little bit. We let them get downhill a lot, and we finally got some stops.”
Both teams shot 41% from the field, but 48 of the Bison’s 58 shot attempts came from 3-point range — a school record for most attempted threes.
UND went 9-for-29 (31%) from range, while NDSU was 16-for-48 (33%).
“I think we still might be taking threes out there right now,” Richman said.
NDSU was led by Jacksen Moni, who ended with a double-double (24 points, 10 rebounds). Jacari White added 20 points, and Miller had 17 points and seven boards.
Eli King grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds in the loss.
In the first half, Eaglestaff, who led UND with 22 points, missed back-to-back looks from three. UND assistant coach Jamie Stevens took Eaglestaff out of the game.
Eaglestaff started to take over in the second half, driving to the basket more in an effort to grab the win.
“I don’t usually get a lot of open looks like that, so I was just mad at myself,” he said. “So second half, I was just like, ‘OK, I don’t know why I care so much about if I get taken out or not. I’m a vet, just grow up and play basketball.’ That’s what I decided to do in the second half. It worked out pretty well.”
Sather still believes his team is talented enough on offense and is fighting to improve on defense. But he knows UND let some opportunities to take over the game slip away.
“God, you have to make some of the plays we didn’t make,” he said.
North Dakota
North Dakota State knocks off North Dakota 87-82
FARGO, N.D. (AP) — Jacksen Moni scored 24 points as North Dakota State beat North Dakota 87-82 on Saturday night.
Moni added 10 rebounds for the Bison (16-6, 5-2 Summit League). Jacari White shot 6 for 17 (4 for 13 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line to add 20 points. Tajavis Miller shot 5 for 9 (2 for 6 from 3-point range) and 5 of 9 from the free-throw line to finish with 17 points.
The Fightin’ Hawks (8-15, 2-6) were led in scoring by Treysen Eaglestaff, who finished with 22 points and seven rebounds. Amar Kuljuhovic added 12 points for North Dakota. Mier Panoam also recorded 11 points and two steals.
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
North Dakota
North Dakota Association of the Blind hosting “Bowling While Blind” event
MOORHEAD — The North Dakota Association of the Blind is hosting a bowling event to raise awareness about blindness.
The organization is hosting “Bowling While Blind” from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30, at Sunset Lanes, 620 U.S. Highway 75.
The event is being held in conjunction with its Giving Hearts Day campaign, which is happening through Feb. 13, the organization said in a news release.
People who are blind or have low vision can and do bowl, the release said, and attendees can learn about how at the event.
Refreshments will be served.
For more information about the event, call or text Allan Peterson at 701-429-7209 or email
allan.c.peterson@gmail.com.
Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.
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