North Dakota
State asks judge to pause ruling that struck down North Dakota’s abortion ban
South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick listens to arguments by attorneys during a hearing
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The state of North Dakota is asking a judge to pause his ruling from last week that struck down the state’s abortion ban until the state Supreme Court rules on a planned appeal.
The state’s motion to stay a pending appeal was filed Wednesday. State District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled last week that North Dakota’s abortion ban “is unconstitutionally void for vagueness,” and that pregnant women in the state have a fundamental right to abortion before viability under the state constitution.
Attorneys for the state said “a stay is warranted until a decision and mandate has been issued by the North Dakota Supreme Court from the appeal that the State will be promptly pursuing. Simply, this case presents serious, difficult and new legal issues.”
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which established a constitutional right to an abortion. Soon afterward, the only abortion clinic in North Dakota moved from Fargo to Moorhead, and challenged North Dakota’s since-repealed trigger ban outlawing most abortions.
In 2023, North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature revised the state’s abortion laws amid the ongoing lawsuit. The amended ban outlawed performance of all abortions as a felony crime but for procedures to prevent a pregnant woman’s death or a “serious health risk” to her, and in cases of rape or incest but only up to six weeks. The law took effect in April 2023.
Red River Women’s Clinic, joined by several doctors, then challenged that law as unconstitutionally vague for doctors and its health exception as too narrow. In court in July, about a month before a scheduled trial, the state asked the judge to throw out the lawsuit, while the plaintiffs asked him to let the August trial proceed. He canceled the trial and later found the law unconstitutional, but has yet to issue a final judgment.
In an interview Tuesday, Center for Reproductive Rights Senior Counsel Marc Hearron said the plaintiffs would oppose any stay.
“Look, they don’t have to appeal, and they also don’t have to seek a stay because, like I said, this decision is not leading any time soon to clinics reopening across the state,” he said. “We’re talking about standard-of-care, necessary, time-sensitive health care, abortion care generally provided in hospitals or by maternal-fetal medicine specialists, and for the state to seek a stay or to appeal a ruling that allows those physicians just to practice medicine I think is shameful.”
Republican state Sen. Janne Myrdal, who introduced the 2023 bill, said she’s confident the state Supreme Court will overturn the judge’s ruling. She called the decision one of the poorest legal decisions she has read.
“I challenge anybody to go through his opinion and find anything but ‘personal opinions,’” she said Monday.
In his ruling, Romanick said, “The Court is left to craft findings and conclusions on an issue of vital public importance when the longstanding precedent on that issue no longer exists federally, and much of the North Dakota precedent on that issue relied on the federal precedent now upended — with relatively no idea how the appellate court in this state will address the issue.”
North Dakota
North Dakota voters to decide single-subject requirement for future constitutional amendments on June 9
BRECKENRIDGE — Coaches, teammates, friends and family gathered in the south parking lot of Breckenridge High School for another state tournament sendoff.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
This year, it was Troy Berndt taking the ceremonial convertible ride. He is headed to St. Michael-Albertville High School for the Minnesota Class A State Track and Field Meet on June 4-6.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
He will be running in the third heat of the 400-meter prelims, scheduled for 4:52 p.m. June 4. There are seven athletes in each heat, 21 total, and nine will advance to the finals at 6:20 p.m. June 5.
The top two finishers in each heat advance, along with the next three best times. Berndt’s personal best time of 50.67 has him seeded 13th, but the 10th-, 11th- and 12th-seeded runners are less than five hundredths of a second ahead of him. The eighth- and ninth-seeded runners are also close, at 50.33 and 50.39, respectively.
Berndt dropped nearly seven-tenths of a second from his previous personal best at the Section 6A West Subsection Meet on May 21, running 51.35, and shaved another 0.68 seconds off at the Section 6A Championships on May 28 with a time of 50.67. If he keeps lowering his time, he will have a shot at reaching the podium against the best runners in Class A.
Corbin Abner Lee / Wahpeton Daily News
Results and photos will be available online immediately following the race June 4 and in the June 10 print edition of the Wahpeton Daily News.
Corbin Lee is a sports reporter for the Wahpeton Daily News and Richland County News-Monitor. Corbin can be reached by calling (701) 291-3551 or emailing corbin.lee@wahpetondailynews.com.
On this day in 1971, Rugby repeated as North Dakota’s high school sand greens golf champion behind medalist Dwight Stempson’s winning performance.
Here is the complete story as it appeared in the paper that day:
Rugby Repeats As Sand Greens Golf Champion
RUGBY, N. D. — Rugby repeated as North Dakota high school sand greens golf champion here Wednesday, posting a four-man total of 293 strokes for 18 holes.
Led by medalist Dwight Stempson’s medalist 36-35 — 71, the Panthers were eight strokes ahead of runnerup Stanley, which had a 301. Following were Garrison 311, Beulah 315, Leeds 322, Ashley 323, Bottineau 328, Pembina 329, Tioga 332, Parshall 341 and Hettinger 342.
Stempson and teammate Bruce Carlson each had one-under par 71s, but Carlson was unable to be at the regional and wasn’t qualified for individual honors.
Rounding out the Rugby totals were Delwin Wilson 40-37 — 77 and Dennett Hutchinson 35-39 — 74. Gary Kirchoffner, 41-39 — 80, was Rugby’s fifth entrant with the best four-of-five scores counted.
Runnerup Stanley was led by Steve Springan’s 34-38 — 72 and Joe Springan’s 36-38 — 74. Their two-man total of 146 strokes was good enough for the doubles title. Two strokes back with a 148 was the duo of Stempson and Wilson. Stan Saathoff and Mike Stepina of Garrison each had 76s for a 152 total and the Ashley combo of Steve Maier (76) and Dave Kretschmar (78) was fourth with a 154.
Stempson was the driving contest winner with a distance of 280 yards. Chris Knutson of Garrison headed the pitch and putt competition.
Kate Almquist is the social media manager for InForum. After working as an intern, she joined The Forum full time starting in January 2022. Readers can reach her at kalmquist@forumcomm.com.
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