Let citizens vote: Is abortion health care?

Multiple iterations of legislation that would ban abortion have so far been found unconstitutional by the Wyoming Supreme Court, based on the voter-approved 2012 constitutional amendment granting competent adults the freedom to make their own health care decisions.

Gov. Mark Gordon was right to encourage the Legislature to put the issue of abortion before voters, but the Legislature defied a sound constitutional solution that empowers the people to decide, once and for all. The Legislature ignored his sage advice and instead passed two more anti-abortion bills that are being challenged in the courts, again.

Repeating the same behavior while expecting different results is the definition of insanity. It’s befuddling that leadership in the state Capitol didn’t heed the governor’s direction to work collectively and approve ballot language to settle this polarizing issue in November. The next opportunity will be in 2028.

At hand is an ongoing legal and moral dilemma in which elected officials are defining a narrow scope of medical practice, all but a few without any clinical education. The bulk of Wyoming legislators oppose abortion and continue to pass bills that just add to the court docket without creating lasting, durable guidance for pregnant women and their physicians.

Wyoming already is struggling to offer broad maternity health care in many parts of the state. Maternal health outcomes are heavily reliant on widely available and affordable prenatal care, which are diminishing every year. Unpredictable legal scope of practice for OB/GYN providers only complicates this vital issue of caring for pregnant women.

Voters in the Western states of Montana, Colorado, South Dakota, Nebraska, Arizona and Nevada have all passed constitutional amendments defining abortion, and Nevada will vote again in 2026 for its law to take effect. Various other states have put this decision to voters, as it is the most fair way for citizens to decide on the topic of balancing the protection of reproductive rights of women and protecting the unborn.

Because we’ve reached a point where society no longer trusts women or their doctors to make difficult and timely decisions, we must now allow voters to define the future. When we collectively agree that this is the best way forward, we must also agree to live with the outcome.