In Bismarck, North Dakota, a scheduled trial challenging the state’s abortion ban was abruptly canceled by State District Judge Bruce Romanick without immediate explanation. The trial was set for August 26-30 and has now been removed from the calendar. Judge Romanick stated that he will provide “full findings on summary judgment and/or a new notice of trial” in the near future, while also pausing the deadlines for court filings until further notice. The reasons behind the trial cancellation remain unclear.
The lawsuit was brought forth by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of plaintiffs, including the former sole abortion clinic in North Dakota. The legal challenge argued that the state’s abortion ban, which outlaws the procedure as a felony crime with limited exceptions, violates the state constitution due to its lack of clarity in defining exceptions and its narrow health exemption. The plaintiffs were seeking for the trial to proceed despite the state’s motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case.
The Red River Women’s Clinic originally filed the lawsuit in 2022 against the state’s trigger ban, which was repealed following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade. After relocating to Moorhead, Minnesota, the clinic, along with medical professionals, revised the complaint in response to North Dakota’s updated abortion laws enacted by the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature in 2023. The state’s arguments in court contended that the plaintiffs’ case was based on hypotheticals, questioned the standing of the clinic and its medical director, and suggested that proceeding to trial would not alter the outcome.
Efforts to understand the reasoning behind the trial cancellation through the plaintiffs’ representatives or the office of North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley have so far yielded no additional information. The future of the lawsuit challenging North Dakota’s abortion ban remains uncertain as Judge Romanick deliberates on the case.
