This decision is nothing short of heartbreaking—but this fight is far from over. We're in courthouses across the U.S. and around the world fighting to protect and restore our right to reproductive health care.

We're NOT backing down. Are you with us?

Now that the ban is back in place, doctors will once again have to choose between providing care and going to prison as violating the ban is considered a class C felony, punishable by a maximum of five years of imprisonment, a fine of $10,000, or both.

This extreme ban offers limited exceptions and doesn’t clearly explain how sick a patient has to be to qualify for abortion care, or whether abortion is allowed when the fetus has a fatal condition.

“Today’s decision is a shameful setback ... The Court has allowed a dangerous and unclear law to come back into effect; one that puts patients’ lives at risk and forces providers to practice in fear.” —our plaintiff Dr. Ana Tobiasz, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist

In 2023, the state passed a second, amended ban, which we also challenged, and in a major ruling in fall 2024, a state court struck it down, finding it unconstitutional.

The state, however, appealed, sending the case to the State Supreme Court, which led to today’s ruling.

Some background: In 2007, North Dakota enacted a “trigger” ban on abortion, designed to take immediate effect if the federal right to abortion was ever revoked. When Roe was overturned, we successfully challenged this near-total ban.

“This decision is a devastating loss for pregnant North Dakotans. Abortion is health care, and North Dakotans deserve to be able to access this care without delay caused by confusion about what the law allows.” —Meetra Mehdizadeh, @reprorights.org senior attorney

So, say it with us this time: 👏 Abortion 👏 is 👏 health 👏 care!

Always has been, always will be.

Medical experts have made it extremely clear that access to abortion care is MEDICALLY NECESSARY and that abortion bans—including ones with fake “exceptions"—are preventing doctors from doing their work to keep patients safe and save their lives.

Abortion care is needed for patients with life threatening health conditions like cancer, where the treatment is incompatible with pregnancy.
➡️Without access to abortion care, patients can't safely begin chemotherapy or organ transplant surgery.

Abortion care is needed to treat unwanted pregnancy.
➡️Without access to abortion care, patients who do not want to be pregnant can experience life-threatening mental health crises, resulting in suicide.

Abortion care is needed to treat complications from miscarriage.
➡️Without access to abortion care, the patient can retain tissue inside of their uterus and contract a deadly septic infection.