Wyoming abortion providers refiled their challenge to the state’s newly enacted clinic and ultrasound regulations on Tuesday in Teton County after a Natrona County court failed to act on a request to hold an emergency hearing on whether to temporarily block the laws.

Court records obtained by WyoFile show the change landed the case in the courtroom of Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens, who sided with the same plaintiffs in November when she struck down two broader state abortion bans. The venue switch means Owens could hear arguments in the legal challenge to Wyoming’s newest abortion restrictions around the same time as the Wyoming Supreme Court considers her ruling against the broader bans.

In a Tuesday court filing, lawyers for Wyoming abortion providers say the inaction in Natrona County District Court left them with no choice but to refile the case elsewhere, as the new regulations have forced Wyoming’s lone full-service abortion clinic to cease providing reproductive health services. 

Abortion providers and advocates filed suit in Natrona County on Feb. 28, the day after the rules went into effect, but the case did not advance. Natrona County is home to Wellspring Health Access, the state’s only facility to provide in-clinic abortions. 

The plaintiffs are asking a judge to halt enforcement of the new laws until the court challenge can be heard.

“Although Plaintiffs requested an emergency hearing on their motion for [a temporary restraining order blocking the law], no such hearing was set,” the providers’ newly filed memorandum states. “Because Plaintiffs and their patients are experiencing ongoing, severe, and irreparable injury — including direct harms to Plaintiffs and their patients in Teton County — Plaintiffs have no choice but to dismiss the Prior Action without prejudice and re-file it in the form of the present lawsuit in the hope of securing a timely hearing.”

New laws, new regulations

At issue are two laws passed by the Wyoming Legislature during the session that concluded last week. The first creates a series of new regulations on abortion clinics in Wyoming by requiring such facilities to be licensed as “ambulatory surgical centers.” Abortion rights advocates say rules that come with such a designation are intended to be onerous and impractical. Supporters of the law maintain the regulations are necessary for the safety of women seeking abortions.

The second law requires abortion patients to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound and a 48-hour waiting period prior to receiving abortion medications. The measure prompted a similar debate over whether it was genuinely intended to increase patient safety or simply serve as an obstacle to discourage abortions. Gov. Mark Gordon vetoed the legislation, saying mandating the procedure was invasive and often medically unnecessary, but lawmakers overrode his decision.

Regardless of the new laws’ intent, they had a dramatic effect on Casper’s Wellspring Health Access. The clinic had performed 71 abortions between the start of the year and Feb. 27, founder and president Julie Burkhart wrote in a court document in support of the motion for a temporary restraining order. Immediately after the passage of the new, more intense set of regulations, the clinic ceased providing reproductive health services, and in the following five days, referred 56 patients to other clinics for abortion-related services, almost all of them out of state.

Meeting the new standards demanded of ambulatory surgical centers would require “substantial and costly renovations and reconstruction,” lawyers for the plaintiff write. A further hurdle, they add, is a new requirement that physicians maintain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital.

“The laws will force Plaintiff Wellspring to shutter its clinic … and compel many Wyomingites seeking abortions to carry pregnancies to term against their will with all the physical, emotional, and financial costs that entails,” the plaintiffs argue. 

Change of venue

The lawyers in the newly filed legal challenge also represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the abortion bans passed by lawmakers in 2023. One targets medications; the other is a broader prohibition. That challenge was filed in Teton County, and Owens quickly halted enforcement of the bans with a temporary restraining order. She later ruled they violated the Wyoming Constitution. 

One of the plaintiffs in that case — as well as the newly filed lawsuit — is a doctor who practices in Teton County and has provided abortion services in that community. That didn’t stop abortion opponents from arguing that filing the abortion ban challenge in Teton County — a liberal enclave in a deeply conservative state — amounted to venue shopping, or filing the case in a jurisdiction where plaintiffs are more likely to obtain a favorable ruling.

When Owens blocked a ban on medication abortions in June 2023, for example, the Wyoming Freedom Caucus decried her as an activist judge. “The pro-abortion Left can only win by going forum shopping with judicial activists,” the hard-line group wrote on Twitter at the time.

Those who know Owens told WyoFile in 2023 that she’s motivated by the law, not politics.

“Melissa has the ability to avoid the noise around this case, and I think a lot of other attorneys or judges may not,” Casper attorney Pam Brondos said ahead of Owens’ ruling on the abortion bans. “Melissa will follow the law, and I have no doubt that she’s going to make her decision and not be influenced with what’s happening within the political sphere.”

If you homeschool your children, should you be required to share your curriculum choices with local school districts?

Absolutely not, says Homeschool Wyoming President Brenna Lowry – who shared her elation with the Cowboy State Daily after Gov. Mark Gordon signed House Bill 46, or the Homeschool Freedom Act, into law Feb. 27.

“Parental rights are reflected and upheld in the passage of this bill, and Wyoming joins 11 other states that require no notice of intent to homeschool,” Lowry said. “This is an historic moment as Wyoming is the first state in our nation’s history to roll back homeschool regulations.” 

The law takes effect July 1 and eliminates former requirements for families to notify the government before they begin homeschooling. 

“It’s an incredibly exciting moment for the homeschool community in Wyoming, and more broadly in the United States,” said Will Estrada, senior counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association. 

‘Parenting is not the government’s job’ 

Eleven states – Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, Oklahoma and Texas – also allow homeschoolers to teach without any government notification. 

However, these states did it through Supreme Court precedent and not the legislative process, Estrada explained. 

“We are absolutely thrilled that Governor Gordon signed HB 46 into law. This is a significant moment not just for homeschoolers in Wyoming, but nationwide,” he said. 

While parents withdrawing their children from Wyoming public schools to homeschool are still required to notify their district, no further contact is required – and no curriculum submissions are needed. 

The change comes even as parents in Illinois are rallying against proposed mandates to add more requirements on homeschooling, such as curriculum mandates and district notifications. 

“This legislation is being sold as a protection of children measure, but in reality, it is just placing another unnecessary burden on our families and on our education system here in Illinois,” said State Rep. Brandun Schweizer, R-Danville. 

Shannon Rankin, a Wyoming homeschool mom of five, agrees. 

“It’s a relief to not have to feel that the government is watching or prodding or approving or denying something, and to really be in a place where we have a government that is actually doing what it is supposed to do,” she said of the new law. 

Rankin described submitting an annual curriculum notification as “awkward” as the district had no legal basis to approve or disprove her educational choices. 

“Parenting is not the government’s job. God has given these children to us. These are our kids, and we know them best and it’s our God-given right to educate them,” she said. 

“And it’s not even just our right. God said we are to do it. It’s our responsibility and obligation to educate them and we may choose tutors or other things to do that, but it’s up to us to decide that.” 

Like the robin, this green winged friend is a sign of springtime in Wyoming.

Sheridan’s Green Hairstreak is one of the earliest butterflies to arrive.

Adults may be seen flying during the earliest warm days of spring, while snow is still melting nearby.

This small jade-green butterfly thrives in sagebrush, brushy hills, woodlands, open hillsides, and on canyon slopes and washes.

It was first documented in 1877 near present-day Sheridan. Both the town and the butterfly are named after Lt. General P.H. Sheridan, a famous Civil War commander.

The butterfly was actually named before the town.

Another nickname for the hairstreak is Sheridan’s Elfin.

Wyoming designated her as the official state butterfly in 2009.

On January 26 that year, the “butterfly bill” passed 30-0 on its final reading.

The idea came from third-grade students at Big Horn Elementary School in Sheridan County.

The bill was sponsored by Senator Bruce Burns and Representative Rosie Berger of Sheridan County, along with Representative Mary Throne of Cheyenne.

Professor Scott Shaw, an entomologist in the University of Wyoming’s College of Agriculture, supports the bill and testified before a legislative committee Jan. 22. “This lovely insect is distinctive, being one of the few green butterflies in our region,” he said.

“I believe the senators realize and appreciate the efforts of the kids in Big Horn as well as the educational benefits to them of watching the legislative process in action.”

He added, “I don’t know if the Big Horn kids could have done this without Scott Shaw’s support. His knowledge and enthusiasm put the butterfly bill over the top in the legislative committee.”

In terms of symbolic meaning, some consider a green butterfly flitting in front of you a sign that someone you loved or are close with who has passed away is sending a message of greeting. It can also be perceived as a reminder to trust your heart when it comes to making a decision.

SEE ALSO: Do you Know Wyoming’s State Gem?