Don't be reactive with legislation

There is a saying that ‘it is better to be proactive than reactive’ and while it is a great saying it is one that our Legislature and Wyoming leadership has apparently not learned. Or perhaps they just prefer to be reactive rather than proactive.

Case in point, in 2010 Congress passed the Affordable Care Act. In 2012, Wyoming Legislature passed a resolution to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. The Wyoming Supreme Court, in their recent ruling that laws restricting abortion were unconstitutional, wrote that the amendment “gave Wyoming adults the right to make their own health care decisions. That amendment, found at Article 1, Section 38 of the Wyoming Constitution, was intended to respond to the Affordable Care Act (a federal law often called Obamacare) and specifically says that: ‘Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.’”

Prior to the passing of ACA, I never heard anyone say ‘hey we need a constitutional amendment about making our own health care decisions.’ So was there really an issue?

In 2020, when mandates were being issued about masks and COVID-19 vaccinations, many noted the Wyoming Constitutional Amendment as their constitutional right to not adhere to the mandates. So there was support for the amendment regarding the ACA and COVID-19.

Fast forward to 2026 when the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that the two laws restricting abortions in the state were unconstitutional, primarily because of the amendment voters approved in 2012.

With that ruling many are noting that is not what the amendment was intended for, that is not what the voters meant (perhaps some voted for the amendment for that exact reason). Regardless the amendment was approved and it is in the State Constitution.

I have had several mentors over the years caution me about putting “policies” in writing because once a work policy is in writing there is no wiggle room, there is no flexibility.

Shouldn’t we legislate in much the same way.

In their own summary, the Court wrote, “all five Wyoming Supreme Court justices agreed that the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a woman’s own health care decision protected by Article 1, Section 38. Relying on law from earlier Wyoming Supreme Court cases, all five justices also concluded that an adult’s right to make his or her own healthcare decisions is a fundamental right because of the very specific language used and because that language was put in a section of the Wyoming Constitution called the ‘Declaration of Rights.’”

In reacting to the ruling, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon said, “I call on the legislature to pass and place a clear constitutional amendment on my desk during the upcoming Budget Session.”

One legislator is already working on such legislation.

If we as citizens are going to be asked to again amend our constitution shouldn’t the language be well thought out, time taken to make sure the language is well thought out, that it will be understood by the constituents voting on it and to ensure that they think about any short or long-term ramifications?

It has also been reported that some legislators have met to discuss downsizing the number of State Supreme Court Justices … presumably because they were upset at the ruling. I wonder if these same legislators supported the Biden Administration when there was brief discussion about changing the number of U.S. Supreme Court Justices … I bet they did not.

Let us be cautious about putting our emotions and our immediate reactions into law. The Legislature, and state and local leadership, should work to be proactive and not always reactive.

Regardless of your views on abortion, don’t we deserve to know all the possible ramifications for changing our constitution before we cast a vote?

I caution the Legislature about trying to push something through during a session that is set to begin in less than a month. I ask them to take time and make sure anything they put forward to the voters is well thought out and that they understand any short or long-term ramifications.

Because once an amendment is passed there is no flexibility.