Abortion in North Dakota: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Overviewnone}} of<!-- the"none" legalityis andpreferred prevalencewhen ofthe abortionstitle inis thesufficiently U.S.descriptive; statesee of[[WP:SDNONE]] North Dakota}}-->

The state was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/graphics/gpr1004/gpr100406t1.pdf|title=State Policy On Informed Consent for Abortion|date=Fall 2007|website=Guttmacher Policy Review|access-date=May 22, 2019}}</ref> Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota and Ohio all had statutes in 2007 that required specific informed consent on abortion but also, by statute, allowed medical doctors performing abortions to disassociate themselves with the anti-abortion materials they were required to provide to their female patients.<ref name=":1" /> North Dakota's informed consent materials included a definition for fetus stating it is "a Latin word meaning young one or offspring".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2007/11/state-abortion-counseling-policies-and-fundamental-principles-informed-consent|title=State Abortion Counseling Policies and the Fundamental Principles of Informed Consent|date=2007-11-12|website=Guttmacher Institute|access-date=2019-05-22}}</ref> According to North Dakota's materials, at 10 weeks, the fetus "now has a distinct human appearance" and "eyelids are formed".  The materials say at 14 weeks, the fetus "is able to swallow" and "sleeps and awakens".<ref name=":1" />

[[North Dakota HB 1572|North Dakota's HB 1572]], otherwise known as the ''Personhood of Children Act'', was a bill in the [[North Dakota Legislature]] which aimed to "provide equality and rights to all human beings at every stage of biological development". This step could have eventually eliminated all types of abortion for nearly any reason in the state of North Dakota.<ref>[http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/22733892.html North Dakota Personhood Bill Passes, First in US History - Standard Newswire]</ref> It would have allocated rights to “the pre-born, partially born”. If it had passed, it would have likely been used to challenge ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111230155505/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jLqlX6aWvaJs83NZDYSn54jVfwIw "US state's 'personhood' law would hit birth control: opponents"] 2009-02-18 ''AFP''</ref>

In March 2013, Gov.Governor [[Jack Dalrymple]] of North Dakota signed into law a bill presented to him by the legislature that would have banned abortions in the state six weeks after a woman's first missed period (North Dakota HB 1456).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nd-governor-approves-6-week-abortion-ban-says-constitutionality-is-open-question/|title=N.D. governor approves 6-week abortion ban, says constitutionality is "open question"|work=CBS News|access-date=December 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/06/18/us/politics/abortion-restrictions.html|title=Abortion Restrictions in States|last=Times|first=The New York|website=archive.nytimes.com|access-date=2019-05-25}}</ref><ref name=":122" /> Only North Dakota successfully passed a such a "fetal heartbeat" law that year, although it was later struck down by the courts.<ref name=":122" /><ref name="Rewire News">{{cite news|url=https://rewire.news/article/2015/07/22/federal-court-blocks-north-dakota-heartbeat-ban-calls-supreme-court-overturn-roe/|title=Federal Court Blocks North Dakota Heartbeat Ban, Calls on the Supreme Court to Overturn 'Roe'|last1=Pieklo|first1=Jessica Mason|date=July 22, 2015|access-date=February 10, 2019|publisher=Rewire News}}</ref> Gov. Dalrymple stated that it was "a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of ''[[Roe v. Wade]]''".<ref name="slate">{{cite web|url=http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2015/07/north_dakota_fetal_heartbeat_bill_court_opinion_an_anti_science_states_rights.html|title=A Regrettable Decision|author=Lithwick, Dahlia|date=July 23, 2015|work=Slate|access-date=August 11, 2015}}</ref> In 2013, state [[Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers]] (TRAP) had provisions related to admitting privileges and licensing. They required clinics have hospital privileges.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2013/06/trap-laws-gain-political-traction-while-abortion-clinics-and-women-they-serve-pay-price|title=TRAP Laws Gain Political Traction While Abortion Clinics—and the Women They Serve—Pay the Price|date=2013-06-27|website=Guttmacher Institute|access-date=2019-05-27}}</ref> The state had a law on the books as of August 2018 that would be triggered if ''Roe v. Wade'' was overturned.<ref name=":3" /> As of mid-May 2019, abortion in North Dakota was banned after week 22.<ref name=":122">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/15/us/abortion-laws-2019.html|title='The Time Is Now': States Are Rushing to Restrict Abortion, or to Protect It|last=Tavernise|first=Sabrina|date=2019-05-15|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-05-24|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Abortion in North Dakota remainsremained legal following the United States' Supreme Court ruling to overturn ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' on June 24, 2022. The state has a trigger law from 2007,<ref>{{Cite web |title=HB 1466 - Overview {{!}} North Dakota Legislative Branch |url=https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/60-2007/regular/bill-overview/bo1466.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240827164239/https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/60-2007/regular/bill-overview/bo1466.html |archive-date=2024-08-27 |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=ndlegis.gov}}</ref> banning all abortions, which has been blocked by a court since July.<ref name=":7" /> <ref name=":8" /> Under the trigger law, performance of an abortion is a Class C felony subject to a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, or both. The person performing the abortion who is charged under the law can only be excused from criminal liability by proving one of the following affirmative defenses: the abortion was necessary to prevent the death of the mother, the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, or the individual performing the abortion was acting in the scope of his or her regulated profession and under the direction of a physician.<ref name=":6" />{{cite Aweb state|title=Burgum districtreleases courtstatement issuedon aU.S. preliminarySupreme injunctionCourt preventingopinion enforcementthat ofreturns theabortion lawissue whileto the court is deciding the merits of the case.<ref>{{cite webstates | url=https://www.governor.nd.gov/news/burgum-releases-statement-us-supreme-court-opinion-returns-abortion-issue-states}}</ref> |A title=Burgumstate releasesdistrict statementcourt onissued U.S.a Supremepreliminary Courtinjunction opinionpreventing thatenforcement returnsof abortionthe issuelaw towhile the statescourt }}is deciding the merits of the case.</ref name=":6"/>

The [[Supreme Court of the United States|US Supreme Court]]'s decision in 1973's ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester.<ref name=":0Abor ND">{{Cite journal|last=Buell|first=Samuel|date=1991-01-01|title=Criminal Abortion Revisited|url=https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/faculty_scholarship/2174|journal=New York University Law Review|volume=66|issue=6|pages=1774–1831|pmid=11652642}}</ref> (However, the Supreme Court overturned ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' in ''[[Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization]]'', {{ussc|597||2022|docket=19-1392}} later in 2022.<ref name="cnn decision">{{cite web |url = https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/24/politics/dobbs-mississippi-supreme-court-abortion-roe-wade/index.html |title = Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade |first = ArinneAriane |last = de Vogue |date = June 24, 2022 |accessdate access-date= June 24, 2022 |work = [[CNN]] |archive-date = June 24, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220624141808/https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/24/politics/dobbs-mississippi-supreme-court-abortion-roe-wade/index.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="scotusblog decision">{{cite news |last1 = Howe |first1 = Amy |title = Supreme Court overturns constitutional right to abortion |url = https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/supreme-court-overturns-constitutional-right-to-abortion/ |work = [[SCOTUSblog]] |date = June 24, 2022 |access-date = June 24, 2022 |archive-date = June 24, 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220624142633/https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/06/supreme-court-overturns-constitutional-right-to-abortion/ |url-status = live }}</ref>) In July 2015 the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit|Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals]] affirmed a lower court decision blocking HB 1456 (a "fetal heartbeat" law that would ban abortion from six weeks after fertilization) from going into effect.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://rewire.news/article/2015/07/22/federal-court-blocks-north-dakota-heartbeat-ban-calls-supreme-court-overturn-roe/|title=Federal Court Blocks North Dakota Heartbeat Ban, Calls on the Supreme Court to Overturn 'Roe'|last1=Pieklo|first1=Jessica Mason|date=July 22, 2015|access-date=February 10, 2019|publishername="Rewire News}}<"/ref> The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case and the law remains permanently blocked.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rewire.news/legislative-tracker/law-topic/heartbeat-bans/|title=Heartbeat Bans|website=rewire.news|access-date=February 10, 2019|quote=As with Arkansas’ law, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case. The law remains permanently blocked.}}</ref> In July 2013, a lawsuit had been filed with regard to the law by the [[Center for Reproductive Rights]] (CRR), on behalf of the only abortion clinic in North Dakota, [[Red River Women's Clinic]]. In July 2015, the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit|8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals]] blocked the bill.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/north-dakota-appeals-ruling-overturning-fetal-heartbeat-abortion-ban/|title=N.D. makes next move after controversial abortion law overturned|agency=Associated Press|date=May 14, 2014|work=CBS News|access-date=August 11, 2015}}</ref> The case was appealed to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]], but the court denied a writ of [[Certiorari#United States|certiorari]] in January 2015 and let stand the decision of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/supreme-court-rejects-north-dakota-appeal-abortion-restrictions-n503741|title=Supreme Court Rejects North Dakota Appeal on Abortion Restrictions|last1=Williams|first1=Pete|work=NBC News|access-date=December 7, 2016}}</ref>

{{See also|Abortion clinic}}Following the ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' ruling, two abortion clinics opened in the state, one in [[Grand Forks, North Dakota|Grand Forks]] and one in [[Jamestown, North Dakota|Jamestown]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|url=https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/paz4bv/last-clinics-seven-states-one-abortion-clinic-left|title=Seven states have only one remaining abortion clinic. We talked to the people keeping them open.|last=McCann|first=Allison|date=May 23, 2017|website=Vice News|access-date=2019-05-23}}</ref> Around 1981, when the doctors in Grand Forks and Jamestown were getting close to an age where they would consider retiring, they reached out to Jane Bovard and asked her to open a clinic in [[Fargo, North Dakota|Fargo]].  Bovard had a history of supporting abortion rights in the state by assisting women in traveling to [[Minneapolis]] or cities in other states to get abortions. She agreed and with the help of [[Susan Hill (activist)|Susan Hill]] opened a Women's Health Organization affiliate in the fall of that year.<ref name=":22" /> From 1981 to 1991, there were three abortion clinics in the state. In 1991, the doctors in Grand Forks and Jamestown both retired, leaving the Women's Health Organization as the only abortion provider in the state.<ref name=":22" /><ref name=":32">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDqXplZptaIC|title=A State-By-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights|last1=Arndorfer|first1=Elizabeth|last2=Michael|first2=Jodi|last3=Moskowitz|first3=Laura|last4=Grant|first4=Juli A.|last5=Siebel|first5=Liza|date=December 1998|publisher=Diane Publishing|isbn=9780788174810}}</ref> In the period between 1992 and 1996, the state saw no change in the total number of abortion clinics. While only three states saw gains in this period, this state was one of four to see no changes with one abortion clinic in the state in 1996.<ref name=":5" />

In 2008 and 2014, there was still only one abortion clinic in North Dakota.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-abortion-clinics-are-in-america-each-state-2017-2|title=The number of abortion clinics in the US has plunged in the last decade — here's how many are in each state|last=Gould|first=Rebecca Harrington, Skye|website=Business Insider|access-date=2019-05-23}}</ref><ref name="jones2008">{{Cite journal|vauthors=Jones RK, Kooistra K|date=March 2011|title=Abortion Incidence and Access to Services In the United States, 2008|url=http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/4304111.pdf|journal=Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health|volume=43|issue=1|pages=41–50|doi=10.1363/4304111|pmid=21388504|s2cid=2045184}}</ref> In 2014, 98% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 73% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.es/abortion-access-in-america-maps-charts-if-roe-falls-2018-8|title=This is what could happen if Roe v. Wade fell|lastlast1=businessinsiderPanetta|first1=Grace|last2=Lee|first2=Samantha|date=2018-08-04|website=Business Insider|language=esen|access-date=2019-05-24|archive-date=2019-05-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524083342/https://www.businessinsider.es/abortion-access-in-america-maps-charts-if-roe-falls-2018-8|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2016, only a small section of the state required women to drive fewer than 40 miles to access an abortion clinic.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/us/politics/abortion-supreme-court-women-explain-choices.html|title=Eyes on Kennedy, Women Tell Supreme Court Why Abortion Was Right for Them|last=Liptak|first=Adam|date=2016-02-29|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-06-02|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In 2017, there were no [[Planned Parenthood]] clinics in the state, making North Dakota one of two states without a Planned Parenthood clinic.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2017-planned-parenthood-locations-states/|title=Here's Where Women Have Less Access to Planned Parenthood|access-date=2019-05-23}}</ref> North Dakota, [[Abortion in Wyoming|Wyoming]], [[Abortion in Mississippi|Mississippi]], [[Abortion in Louisiana|Louisiana]], [[Abortion in Kentucky|Kentucky]] and [[Abortion in West Virginia|West Virginia]] were the only six states as of July 21, 2017, not to have a Planned Parenthood clinic that offered abortion services.<ref name=":2" /> In May 2019, the state was one of six states in the nation with only one abortion clinic.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/29/health/six-states-with-1-abortion-clinic-map-trnd/index.html|title=These 6 states have only 1 abortion clinic left. Missouri could become the first with zero|author=Holly Yan|website=CNN|date=2019-05-29 May 2019 |access-date=2019-06-02}}</ref> The state now has no abortion clinics at all.<ref name="RRWCmove" />

Number of reported abortions, abortion rate and percentage change in rate by geographic region and state in 1992, 1995 and 1996<ref name=":5">{{Cite webjournal|url=https://www.guttmacher.org/journals/psrh/1998/11/abortion-incidence-and-services-united-states-1995-1996|title=Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States, 1995-1996|date=2005-06-15|websitejournal=GuttmacherPerspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health|volume=30 |pages=263–270 Institute|access-date=2019-06-02 |last1=Henshaw |first1=Stanley K.}}</ref>

|<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Jatlaoui|first=Tara C.|date=2019|title=Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2016|url=https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/ss/ss6811a1.htm|journal=MMWR. Surveillance Summaries|volume=68|issue=11|pages=1–41|doi=10.15585/mmwr.ss6811a1|pmid=31774741|issn=1546-0738|doi-access=free|pmc=6289084}}</ref>

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Protesters picketed outside the home of Jane Bovard many times. She ran a well-known search service that brokered abortions for women who sought them.<ref name=":22" /> Anti-abortion rights activists threatened Bovard many times, including while outside her home. She responded by calling the police; her husband helped protect her by loading his shotgun.<ref name=":22" />