Gordon vetoes abortion bill, far-right lawmakers call for special session
HEA37 would have instituted new requirements for abortion providers and mandated ultrasounds for those seeking abortions. Lawmakers cannot override the veto without calling a special session.
On Friday, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon vetoed House Enrolled Act No. 37 — a major abortion bill and the only such bill to be passed by the Legislature this session — citing concerns of further litigation in the state courts.
Since the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022, every successful abortion bill in Wyoming — first a trigger ban, then outright prohibitions on surgical and chemical abortions — have been immediately tied up in litigation.
“The new laws passed in 2023 delayed a decision in the courts and ergo, I believe signing this year’s House Enrolled Act No. 37 - Regulation of Abortions would only potentially delay a final decision in that same case yet again,” Gordon writes in his veto letter. “And to what end? The previous delays have only sacrificed additional unborn children in Wyoming. We cannot afford further delay of the resolution of this critical issue for the unborn.”
HEA37’s original purpose was to require facilities offering abortion services to register as “ambulatory surgical centers” and follow the requirements of that designation. It was the only abortion-related bill this session to survive introduction.
The bill's original intent, according to its sponsor Worland Rep. Martha Lawley (HD-27), was to protect women seeking abortions for as long as abortion remains legal in the state.
Teton and Albany County Democrats, as well as pro-abortion rights activists, took a hard stance against the bill, calling its stated aims dishonest and unnecessary. Minority Floor Leader Rep. Mike Yin (HD-16) added that a similar bill passed in Texas was ultimately ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Those in opposition to the bill were also quick to point out that the bill would have required the state's only abortion clinic to close at least temporarily, according to the clinic's owner.
But the scope of the bill only grew as it moved through the House.
Republican lawmakers absorbed the intent of this year's failed ultrasound bill into HEA37 via an amendment from Majority Floor Leader Rep. Chip Neiman (HD-01).
With this addition, the bill no longer simply required abortion facilities to register as ambulatory surgical medical facilities, but also required medical staff “to provide the pregnant woman the opportunity to view the active ultrasound of the unborn child and hear the heartbeat of the unborn child if the heartbeat is audible.”
Albany County’s Democratic legislators, Rep. Ken Chestek (HD-13), Rep. Karlee Provenza (HD-45), Rep. Trey Sherwood (HD-14), and Sen. Chris Rothfuss (SD-9), opposed the bill in its final form, while Albany County’s Republican legislators, Rep. Ocean Andrew (HD-46) and Sen. Dan Furphy (SD-10), voted in its favor.
In his veto letter, the governor expressed his disappointment with the consolidation of multiple bills into one, saying the ultrasound addition “burdened” the bill with unnecessary baggage.
This is Governor Gordon's first veto concerning a bill to restrict abortion practices. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, he has either signed every anti-abortion bill or let it become law without his signature. Gordon writes his decision to veto this bill stems from his concern that further anti-abortion legislation would slow down the ongoing litigation regarding abortion rights in Wyoming — a matter that is expected to hit the Wyoming Supreme Court.
“In light of Judge Owens’ March 18 order certifying questions to the Wyoming Supreme Court, it is obvious we are closer than ever to a decision on the constitutionality of abortion in Wyoming,” Gordon writes in his veto letter. “I anxiously await a final ruling from our Supreme Court if that is where this issue must ultimately be decided.”
With the budget session concluded, legislators cannot override the governor’s veto. But Wyoming’s far-right Freedom Caucus called on legislative leadership to launch a special session — a move that would reconvene the State Legislature in Cheyenne and allow it the opportunity to vote on veto overrides.
“The decision of legislative leadership to adjourn early served as an open invitation to Governor Gordon to veto measures important to the people of Wyoming with no recourse,” writes Freedom Caucus Chair Rep. John Bear (HD-31) in a statement to the press. “It appears that the Governor took that invitation and ran with it.”
Bear listed the vetoed abortion bill as one reason for calling a special session.
Whether that special session will happen is an open question. The Senate President and House Speaker initially said they would not comply with the request for a special session, but have since signaled they’ll consider it.
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