North Dakota Supreme Court affirms right to abortion

March 16, 2023

Today, the North Dakota Supreme Court issued a huge decision affirming that the North Dakota state constitution protects the right to access abortion, rejecting efforts to implement a total abortion ban across the state!

We are excited for everyone in North Dakota who will benefit from this critical victory. And we congratulate all the reproductive freedom champions who are part of this victory, including:

• Gender Justice’s very own Christina Sambor, a Bismarck-based attorney who provided co-counsel on this case. Christina recently joined the Gender Justice team to explore opportunities to further our mission to advance gender equity through the law in North Dakota.
• Red River Women’s Clinic, the plaintiff in the case and a member of the UnRestrict Minnesota coalition.
• All the other attorneys, advocates, providers, and North Dakotans who made this victory possible.

Today, we are one step closer to a world where everyone can thrive regardless of their gender thanks to the North Dakota Supreme Court affirming what we and countless others have long known — abortion is essential health care, and it is protected under the North Dakota state constitution.

While we cheer this decision, there is so much more work to do. Years of political and legal attacks on abortion access have taken their toll, and there are currently no health centers in North Dakota that offer abortion care.

North Dakotans should be able to make their own reproductive health care decisions without shame, without stigma, and without government interference. We will continue the fight to make this a reality.