It’s been nearly a year since a Teton County judge heard final arguments in the case challenging Wyoming’s two abortion bans. Both bans are on hold as the state awaits her decision.
Meantime, sentiments regarding abortion have largely stayed the same in Wyoming, according to a new survey by the University of Wyoming’s School of Politics, Public Affairs, and International Studies in partnership with the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center.
Comparing this year’s responses to the last four decades of Wyoming election-year surveys, the rate of respondents who want all abortions to be illegal — 10.5% in the latest survey — has remained fairly steady.
More than half of Wyomingites preferred some form of limitation on abortion with 31% opting for exceptions in the case of rape, incest or when a women’s life is in danger, the poll found. Another 19.7% chose an option that said: “The law should permit abortion for reasons other than rape, incest, or danger to the woman’s life, but only after the need for the abortion has been clearly established.”
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Those rates have remained about the same for the last two decades, since the survey questions changed.
The rate of those who said all abortions should be allowed as a personal choice — 38.8% this year — has also held steady since around 2004.
The latest results show public sentiment hasn’t changed much, even amid the Wyoming Legislature’s pursuit of new abortion restrictions in the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
(University of Wyoming School of Politics, Public Affairs, and International Studies)
Politics vs opinion
While opinions about abortion have remained largely steady over time, politics in Wyoming have not, hedging more to the right in recent years.
Before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, lawmakers passed a “trigger” law in early 2022 that would’ve banned most abortions if the decades-old Supreme Court precedent was overturned. When Roe fell, the governor certified the ban, but a few days before it was set to go into effect, a group of doctors, women, an advocacy group and a clinic filed a lawsuit. In response, 9th District Court Judge Melissa Owens stalled its enforcement.
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Then, in early 2023, lawmakers passed two more bans: another near-total ban to replace the trigger ban, and a first-of-its-kind ban on using medications to induce abortion. While the near-total ban initially didn’t include exceptions for rape or incest, lawmakers added those exemptions.
Ultimately, the bans passed with about 70% of the Legislature’s support. In comparison, the survey found 41.5% of Wyomignites supported either a total ban or one with the exemptions included by lawmakers.
About 58.5% of Wyomingites opted for legalizing all abortions or only requiring a clear need for an abortion to legally proceed.
Political divide
While overall opinions remained stagnant in Wyoming, how Republicans and Democrats responded to the survey has changed, according to an analysis by UW’s School of Politics, Public Affairs, and International Studies.
“In the 2016, 2018, and 2020 waves of the survey, these two disparate groups provided remarkably similar levels of support for abortion access,” the analysis found. “Around 20 percent of both groups contended that abortion should be a matter of personal choice, and no more than about 10 percent of either group suggested that all abortions should be made illegal.”
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But there were changes in 2022, the analysis found, showing that more than half of conservatives surveyed said abortion shouldn’t be allowed at all or only allowed in cases of rape, incest, or threat to the mother’s life.
“Conversely, liberals offered far greater support for the most permissive rules around abortions in the entire series, with 70 percent of respondents offering no stipulations to one’s right to an abortion,” the analysis stated.
This year, the gap has widened. About 58% of Republicans surveyed felt all abortions should be illegal or only allowed in instances of rape, incest or when the mother’s life is at risk. The largest group, at 43%, felt there should be those narrow exceptions.
Another 21.5% of Republicans felt all abortions should be legal.
“Wyoming residents exhibit a wide spectrum of views on abortion rights, reflecting deeply nuanced and personal perspectives.”
Ryan Williamson, UW assistant political science professor
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Democrats in the survey were all bunched to one side, though; 86% of Democrats stated that abortion should always be legal, while 11% felt there should be exceptions beyond rape, incest and life of the mother. Fewer than 3% felt they should all be banned or carry limited exceptions.
Independents, meanwhile, also leaned more toward making abortion easier to access. Half of independent survey respondents supported making all abortion legal and another 29% opted for establishing a need for abortion beyond exceptions for only rape, incest or life of the mother.
“Wyoming residents exhibit a wide spectrum of views on abortion rights, reflecting deeply nuanced and personal perspectives,” Ryan Williamson, an assistant political science professor, said in the UW press release.
Methodology
The Survey & Analysis Center and university ran the survey from late September through late October, collecting 739 responses from “randomly selected Wyoming residents,” though gender and age groups from all counties were proportionally represented, according to UW.
This only included noninstitutionalized adults, the survey stated, and involved calling both cell phones and landlines.
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The margin of error for survey questions was plus or minus 3.6%.
“The final survey data have been weighted to reflect the actual population distribution in Wyoming on gender, age, county of residence, party affiliation and education,” UW stated.
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CHEYENNE, Wyoming (10/31/24) – The University of Wyoming wrestling team and Campbell opened up the 2024-25 NCAA wrestling season Thursday night in the Dual at the Daddy. And with the entire collegiate wrestling world watching, the Pokes didn’t disappoint.
In fact, they dominated. Wyoming, at Frontier Park on the grounds of Cheyenne Frontier Days, toppled the Fighting Camels, 28-12.
“It’s awesome. I love doing these things,” Wyoming’s Jore Volk said. “It was fun too. The crowd was awesome. They’re right on top of you. It was an awesome experience, and I hope we do something with UFC Fight Pass every year.”
These same two teams met last year at the Battle in the Barn. That event was put on by UFC Fight Pass, as well, and Campbell came out on top, 23-12.
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The revenge exacted by Wyoming on Thursday was quick and loud. The Cowboys sprung two upsets in the first three bouts and rode that to winning seven of 10.
No. 2 Volk (125) got things started with a methodical 2-0 win over No. 13 Anthony Molton. An escape point and a ride-time point accounted for the only scores.
Stockton O’Brien (133) had the match of the night. He pinned No. 15 Domenic Zaccone in the second period and was named Wrestle of the Night for his upset. He was gifted a WWE-style belt following the dual.
Cole Brooks (141) followed suit. He upset No. 29 Shannon Hanna with a takedown in overtime for a 5-2 sudden victory.
No. 25 Jared Hill (157) also won in overtime. He defeated Seth Larson, 8-5.
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Cooper Voorhees (165) grinded out a 4-2 decision win over Kendrick Hodge. Eddie Neitenbach (184), in his first collegiate match, won via major decision over Cole Rees, while Joey Novak (197) capped the night emphatically with a pin of Mike Slade.
Wyoming takes a little over a week off before its next competition. The Cowboys host Western Wyoming on Nov. 9 at 2 p.m. in what will also be the Brown and Gold intrasquad dual, thereafter.
Wyoming 28 | Campbell 12
125: No. 2 Jore Volk (Wyoming) decision No. 13 Anthony Molton (Campbell), 2-0
133: Stockton O’Brien (Wyoming) fall No. 15 Domenic Zaccone (Campbell), 4:03
141: Cole Brooks (Wyoming) sudden victory No. 29 Shannon Hanna (Campbell), 5-2
149: Eugene Harney (Campbell) decision No. 14 Gabe Willochell (Wyoming), 4-0
157: No. 25 Jared Hill (Wyoming) sudden victory Seth Larson (Campbell), 8-5
165: Cooper Voorhees (Wyoming) decision Kendrick Hodge (Campbell), 4-2
174: No. 24 Dom Baker (Campbell) major decision Brett McIntosh (Wyoming), 13-5
184: Eddie Neitenbach (Wyoming) major decision Cole Rees (Campbell), 12-0
197: No. 10 Joey Novak (Wyoming) Mike Slade (Campbell), 3:51
HWT: No. 7 Taye Ghadiali (Campbell) technical fall Kevin Zimmer (Wyoming), 20-5
LARAMIE — There was nothing tricky about the Wyoming offense in a dismal 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-21) loss to San Diego State on Halloween night.
The Cowgirls hit a combined .079 over the three sets in the Mountain West Conference matchup. Wyoming (13-8, 5-6 MW) was looking to extend its winning streak to three games and move into a tie with the Aztecs for fifth place.
Instead, Wyoming struggled to find open space on the San Diego State side of the court all night.
“At the end of the day, we can’t beat anybody hitting .079 as a team and negative in the first set. It’s just not going to happen,” UW head coach Kaylee Prigge said. “I’ll have to watch the film to see exactly what went wrong other than uncharacteristic errors.”
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Prigge spent the week preparing her team to slow down the Aztecs’ Taylor Underwood, who finished with 14 kills in a three-set win in San Diego less than two weeks earlier.
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UW fared better against Underwood on Thursday, holding the junior to seven kills and a .208 hitting efficiency. Unfortunately, the Cowgirls couldn’t get their own offense going.
“Going into the week, I was concerned with how we were going to defend Taylor Underwood better, I thought we made some really good adjustments there and slowed her down considerably,” Prigge said.
UW middle Sarah Holcomb and senior setter Kasia Partyka were the lone bright spots. Holcomb finished with a team-high nine kills and two blocks; Partyka added five kills to go with 30 assists.
Following a standout week in which she hit .338 over eight sets, Wyoming sophomore hitter Paige Lauterwasser was limited to eight kills on 30 attempts by the Aztecs.
Shea Rubright carried the Aztecs with 10 kills while setter Sarena Gonzalez dished out 44 assists.
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“I told these guys that this was going to be a dogfight and that I thought at their place we didn’t really show up defensively, let them hit ungodly numbers and that wasn’t the key to winning. We needed to be gritty defensively,” Prigge said. “So that’s on me. I told them we needed to be better defensively and really we needed to be better offensively.”
San Diego State completed the season sweep against UW for the first time since 2012.
Wyoming will look to rebound when it hosts UNLV (10-12, 3-8) on Saturday at noon.
CASPER, Wyo. — A lone non-bearing wall was the sacrificial center of attention on Thursday morning for a promising new future in grief care in Casper.
“This is going to be Wyoming’s first grief care center,” said Central Wyoming Hospice & Transitions Executive Director Kilty Brown as she addressed people from the hospice board, staff and supporters, as well as architects and construction crews all packed into a stripped nondescript former lobby.
The new Central Wyoming Hospice & Transitions grief care center building was previously used as office and medical space by the Wyoming Medical Center. It’s located near the Hospice’s facilities. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
Central Wyoming Hospice purchased the single-story brown brick building at 245 S. Fenway recently with the intent of converting the structure into a counseling center with a mission of helping Casper residents cope with grief, depression and loss. The roughly 7,000-square-foot building, located just a block from their main facility, was previously used for various purposes by the Wyoming Medical Center. It will be completely gutted and rebuilt inside.
During the raucous event, various people involved in the projects took turns donning construction hats and glasses and swinging heavy hammers into the doomed drywall in the former office building.
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(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
During her talk, Brown said the center began to realize over the years that the community is underserved when it comes to resources for grief.
“When we talked to families, people who had lost loved ones, 76% of them had experienced depression or anxiety, and about 56% had lost enjoyment in the things they loved, and then about 8% admitted that they were having feelings of self-harm,” she said. “That’s not something we can tolerate.”
Central Wyoming Hospice launched its grief care service in August 2023, with help funds from the American Rescue Plan Act issued during the pandemic. It opened in a temporary office at 111 S. Jefferson St. and plans to move into its customized facility on Fenway next summer.
Central Wyoming Hospice & Transitions Executive Director Kilty Brown raises a toast during a demo party at the location of the new grief care center on Thursday morning. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
Hospice Business Developer Liaison Taryn Houser says that counselors follow and assist families who use hospice for 13 months after their loved one has died. “It’s not just a call here and there, it’s really checking in on them every month, seeing what support they might need, sending letters, getting them through the first holidays, birthdays, and the date of their passing,” she said. “The plan is that they can come here if they need services, and we’ll have a lot of different services here.”
Houser said the center will be open free of charge to anyone in the community, not just for families who have gone through hospice care.
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Brandon Daigle, director of development and president of MOA Architecture, told the assembled crowd that everyone in the community has likely been touched by hospice and their work. “Projects like this are really important to MOA,” he said. “We consider this to be a socially relevant piece of architecture. It’s not a huge project, but it has a very significant impact.”
The current lobby near the building’s front entrance will remain a lobby, but will have a warmer, residential feel, he said. “This will be more like a living room, with a fireplace and nice reception space,” he said. “We really tied to keep as much natural daylight and introduce a whole bunch of new windows into the space.”
One wing will house counselors offices, a new break room and group session rooms, while another section will house staffing and operations. A chapel space will also be built into the new design, he said.
John Griffith, vice president of Sletten Construction, echoed their connection to the hospice operation. “This is more than just a project for us,” he said. “Every single person on our team, myself included, has had family members in some way or another touched by hospice.
“This project is exciting for our community.”
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(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)Brandon Daigle, director of development and president of MOA Architecture, discusses some of the design features that will be built for the grief center after the building is completely gutted. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)John Griffith, vice president of Sletten Construction, talks before demolition starts at the future hospice grief care center. (Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)(Dan Cepeda, Oil City News)
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