On Monday, the Republican governor of the US state of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, signed one of the most restrictive laws on abortion rights in the entire United States, which effectively makes it illegal in almost all cases, with very few exceptions. On the basis of the recently signed law, it will be possible to interrupt a pregnancy only in particular cases of rape, incest or medical emergency, and in any case only within the first six weeks. Announcing the law, Burgum said it “reaffirms that North Dakota is a pro-life state.”
Even before this law, North Dakota had extremely restrictive rules on abortion. Among other things in North Dakota there are no more clinics in which to terminate a pregnancy: last summer the last one structure that remained open had been relocated to Minnesota. The law just signed will enter into force with immediate effect, although it is likely that it will be the subject of appeals and disputes that could block it: this is what happened with a previous ban on abortion, also in this state, which should have entered into force last summer but what has been suspended by the state supreme court following an appeal on its constitutionality.
Last summer, the US Supreme Court, increasingly conservative in orientation, revoked the right to abortion nationwide, overturning the historic ruling “Roe v. Wade” of 1973. From that moment decisions on abortion-related policies are in the hands of individual states, without particular rules at the federal level. North Dakota is one of many states that have introduced bans and restrictions since the Supreme Court ruling.