Trial canceled in North Dakota abortion ban lawsuit as judge ponders dismissal

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A trial looming in a lawsuit challenging North Dakota’s abortion ban was canceled Monday as the judge in the case weighs whether to throw out the lawsuit. It was not immediately clear why the trial was canceled.

State District Judge Bruce Romanick issued a notice to parties regarding trial saying the Aug. 26-30 trial is canceled and will be removed from the calendar. The notice comes nearly a week after the state and plaintiffs, who include the formerly sole abortion clinic in North Dakota, made their pitches to the judge as to why he should dismiss the two-year-old case, or continue to trial.

Romanick’s notice said he will issue “full findings on summary judgment and/or a new notice of trial as soon as possible following this Notice.” He also stayed pending trial deadlines for various court filings until further notice.

A spokesperson for the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents the plaintiffs, said their side did not immediately know anything beyond the notice.

North Dakota outlaws abortion as a felony crime for people who perform the procedure, but with exceptions to prevent the mother’s death or a “serious health risk” to her, as well as for cases of rape or incest within the first six weeks.

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The plaintiffs alleged the abortion ban violates the state constitution because it is unconstitutionally vague about its exceptions for doctors and that its health exception is too narrow. They wanted the trial to proceed.

The Associated Press sent a text message to North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley.

The state had motioned for summary judgment to dismiss the complaint in the lawsuit originally brought in 2022 by the Red River Women’s Clinic. Special Assistant Attorney General Dan Gaustad said in court last week that the plaintiffs’ case is built on hypotheticals, that the clinic and its medical director — now in Minnesota — lack standing, and that a trial would not make a difference.

The Red River Women’s Clinic filed the original lawsuit against the state’s now-repealed trigger ban, soon after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. The clinic afterward moved from Fargo, North Dakota, to neighboring Moorhead, Minnesota. In 2023, North Dakota’s Republican-controlled Legislature revised the state’s abortion laws. Soon after that, the clinic, joined by doctors in obstetrics, gynecology and maternal-fetal medicine, filed an amended complaint.