Wyoming
Wyoming’s abortion fight returns to Teton County courtroom — and judge that overturned bans – WyoFile
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.”
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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