Wyoming
Wyoming abortion views hold steady as lawmakers pursue more restrictions – WyoFile
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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
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.
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.
BEFORE YOU GO… If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to WyoFile. Our work is funded by readers like you who are committed to unbiased journalism that works for you, not for the algorithms.
Oil City News publishes letters, cartoons and opinions as a public service. The content does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Oil City News or its employees. Letters to the editor can be submitted by following the link at our opinion section.
Wyoming Sun Bucks is a net gain for children, families
Dear Casper,
Rep. Ken Pendergraft’s recent column opposing the Sun Bucks program raises concerns about cost, but it does so in a way that risks giving readers an incomplete picture.
It is true that the Department of Family Services requested approximately $3.5 million for startup and operations. However, that figure represents a combined state and federal investment, split evenly. Wyoming’s share is half of that — and more importantly, those dollars are not intended to purchase food directly. They fund the administrative framework required to deliver federally funded benefits to eligible children.
Those responsibilities are not trivial. They include verifying eligibility, processing applications, maintaining technology systems, preventing fraud and ensuring benefits are accurately distributed. Without that infrastructure, the program simply cannot function, and no child would receive assistance.
The initial startup cost of $1.6 million covers one-time expenses such as building the IT system, setting up application processing, contracting with the EBT vendor that issues and loads benefit cards, and establishing temporary staffing and support systems to serve families statewide. This is not “an office for one person,” but the foundation of a program designed to reach roughly 32,000 children.
Once operational, the ongoing cost to Wyoming is estimated at about $483,000 per year in state funds. In return, the program would deliver approximately $3.84 million annually in federal food benefits to Wyoming children. That is a significant net gain for families across the state.
While the article emphasizes administrative expenses, it overlooks the scale of the benefit those costs unlock. The question is not whether administration exists — it must — but whether the outcome justifies the investment. In this case, a relatively modest state contribution enables millions in direct food assistance to flow into Wyoming communities.
Reasonable people can debate the role of government programs. But that debate should be grounded in a full accounting of both costs and benefits. When viewed in that light, the Sun Bucks program is less about bureaucracy and more about whether Wyoming chooses to participate in a federally funded effort to help ensure children have access to food during the summer months.
Mike Thompson, Chairman of the Department of Family Services Oversight Council
Evansville
Wyoming GOP endorsement of candidates
Dear Casper,
I have read about the plans for the Wyoming Republican party to endorse specific candidates in the upcoming primary election. It is my understanding that the state law currently prevents the Wyoming Republican party from officially endorsing a candidate. I agree with the party’s position that this is not in keeping with the party and its members’ First Amendment right to free speech.
However, I think that the party should be careful in exercising this right. As the purpose of the primary election is to select the candidate that the majority of the registered Republican party members feel is best suited for the position, it feels like there could be a conflict of interest in explicitly endorsing a specific candidate without receiving the input from all of the registered members of the party.
Without seeking the input of the entire Republican electorate, how will the party itself provide a fair and accurate endorsement of a candidate? I certainly hope that the party leadership is not intending to offer an endorsement on behalf of the entire party based simply on what they (the leadership) might believe. To offer such an endorsement without seeking the input from all of the party members would be anti-democratic and would invoke Orwellian images of the party which, rather than listening to and responding to the input from the party members, would tell the party members what they should think.
If the members of the party leadership wish to offer an endorsement, they should do so as individuals and should not presume to speak for the entire membership of the party, at least not before the entire Republican electorate has had a chance to provide input regarding a party-level endorsement.
To circumvent this problem, I would recommend that the Republican party hold a vote among all of its registered members to determine whom the party ought to endorse. Maybe we could hold an event where polling places are established, where party members can go to indicate their preference for that endorsement. This would provide a fair and democratic method to ensure that the Republican party’s endorsement reflects the will of the party members.
I think that there might be an event similar to what I have described scheduled for Aug. 18. Maybe the party could do more or less the same thing for their endorsement event — or just wait until then.
Carlos Buckner
Casper
Related
The 2026 Wyoming High School boys’ soccer season is close to its finish. Only three weeks remain. 4A teams will conclude the regular season, as they jockey for positions going into next week’s regional tournaments. Meanwhile, 3A schools have this week and next week left in the regular season. They are trying to reach the top four of the league standings, as those are the teams that qualify for the state tournament in two weeks.
WYOPREPS WEEK 8 BOYS SOCCER SCHEDULE 2026
Three matches this week feature ranked opponents squaring off. Sheridan will host Thunder Basin on Friday. In 3A on Saturday, top-ranked Cody is at No. 5 Mountain View, and four-rated Torrington goes to No. 2 Buffalo. Just like the ladies, you have some rivalry matches on the schedule with Rock Springs-Green River, Jackson-Star Valley, and Thunder Basin-Campbell County. Wednesday will bring new soccer rankings. This is the boys’ schedule for Week 8. Schedules are subject to change.
TUESDAY, MAY 5:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: #2 Sheridan 2 Campbell County 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Riverton 3 Natrona County 1 (conference match)
CLASS 3A
Pinedale at Rawlins – postponed to May 11 – changed to May 9 for boys’ match only!
WEDNESDAY, MAY 6:
CLASS 4A
Laramie at Cheyenne Central – postponed to May 9
Cheyenne South at Cheyenne East – postponed to May 9
Read More Soccer News from WyoPreps
WyoPreps Boys Soccer Standings on 5-4-26
WyoPreps Week 7 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches and Media Soccer Polls 4-29-26
Nominate a Boys Soccer Player for WyoPreps Athlete of the Week
WyoPreps Week 6 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches & Media Soccer Polls 4-22-26
WyoPreps Boys Soccer Standings on 4-20-26
WyoPreps Week 5 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Coaches & Media Soccer Polls 4-15-26
WyoPreps Week 4 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 3 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 2 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
WyoPreps Week 1 Boys Soccer Scores 2026
THURSDAY, MAY 7:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: #1 Jackson 8 Star Valley 2 (conference match)
Final Score: #4 Thunder Basin 3 Campbell County 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Rock Springs 2 #5 Green River 1 (conference match)
FRIDAY, MAY 8:
CLASS 4A
Final Score: Cheyenne Central 6 Cheyenne South 0 (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Sheridan 3 #4 Thunder Basin 1 (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Kelly Walsh 6 Riverton 0 (conference match)
Final Score: Laramie 3 Cheyenne East 1 (conference match)
Final Score: Evanston 2 Natrona County 2 – TIE (conference match) – Red Devils scored with 1 second left for the draw.
CLASS 3A
Final Score: #4 Worland 1 Rawlins 0 (conference match) – Kobe Bradshaw scored the GW goal on a PK in the 1st half.
Final Score: Douglas 2 Torrington 2 (conference match) – Shootout = Torrington wins 4-3!
Final Score: #1 Cody Lyman (conference match)
Final Score: #2 Lander 3 Pinedale 0 (conference match)
Final Score: Powell 1 #5 Mountain View 0 (conference match) – Gianrey Dallesandro with the GW-goal, assisted by Ethan Frame.
Final Score: #3 Buffalo 1 Newcastle 0 (conference match) – forfeit win for the Bison.
SATURDAY, MAY 9:
CLASS 4A
Laramie at Cheyenne Central, 11 a.m. (conference match)
Evanston at #2 Kelly Walsh, noon (conference match)
Cheyenne South at Cheyenne East, noon (conference match)
Riverton at Natrona County, noon (conference match)
Rock Springs at Star Valley, 1 p.m. (conference match)
CLASS 3A
Pinedale at Rawlins, 11 a.m.
#1 Cody at #5 Mountain View, noon (conference match)
Powell at Lyman, noon (conference match)
Torrington at #3 Buffalo, 2 p.m. (conference match)
#4 Worland at Douglas, 2 p.m. (conference match)
Final Score: Rawlins 1 Newcastle 0 (conference match) – forfeit win for the Outlaws.
Cheyenne Central vs. Cheyenne East HS Softball 2026
The Indians faced the rival Thunderbirds on April 15, 2026
Gallery Credit: David Settle, WyoPreps.com
-
California3 minutes agoAfter exile, California tribes could help run their ancestral redwoods again
-
Connecticut15 minutes ago
Alicia (Plikaitis) Helen Junghans Obituary
-
Delaware21 minutes agoMiddletown runs away with record, team title at New Castle County meet
-
Florida27 minutes agoPalm Bay, Florida parents of premature twins held NICU wedding
-
Georgia33 minutes ago‘We’re champs’: How Georgia baseball soaked up first SEC title in 18 years
-
Hawaii39 minutes agoHilo tsunami clock memorial to be moved? – Hawaii Tribune-Herald
-
Idaho45 minutes agoIdaho Stop ordinance seen as progress for cyclists, supporters say | Jefferson City News-Tribune
-
Illinois51 minutes ago20-year-old motorcyclist killed in crash in Oswego, Illinois, police say
