House Bill 92, legislation that would ban abortion entirely in Wyoming if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, creates an unworkable framework for the Wyoming attorney general and improperly delegates legislative power to the executive branch, the ACLU of Wyoming said.
Specifically, House Bill 92 requires Wyoming’s attorney general to determine if and when the United States Supreme Court has overruled Roe, and requires the attorney general to determine if and when a law goes into effect. Neither of these requirements are permissible duties of the attorney general’s office or of the executive branch.
“House Bill 92 contemplates limited potential outcomes of deeply complex litigation centered on privacy rights enshrined in the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution,” said Libby Skarin, ACLU of Wyoming campaigns director. “In assigning the executive branch the responsibility of enacting law based upon future hypothetical case outcomes, House Bill 92 is creating a codified, inflexible mandate that lacks clarity.”
Likewise, House Bill 92 provides no definition of what the legislature considers a “final decision of the supreme court.” Regardless of how the Court rules in any of the currently pending abortion cases, it is without doubt that the fundamental rights at issue in Roe as they relate to abortion will not cease to be litigated on federal and state levels.
“There is no certainty involved in predicting the outcome of Supreme Court cases,” Skarin said. “But there is absolute certainty that abortion cases will continue to be litigated. As such, mandating that the executive branch enact a law based on unclear decisions that cannot be considered final will create confusion for Wyomingites.”
Plans to introduce an amendment to shift these responsibilities to the governor do nothing to alleviate these concerns, the ACLU of Wyoming said.
About the ACLU of Wyoming
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wyoming is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation and enhancement of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of Wyoming is part of a three-state chapter that also includes North Dakota and South Dakota. The team in Wyoming is supported by staff in those states.
The ACLU believes freedoms of press, speech, assembly, and religion, and the rights to due process, equal protection and privacy, are fundamental to a free people. In addition, the ACLU seeks to advance constitutional protections for groups traditionally denied their rights, including people of color, women, and the LGBTQ communities. The ACLU of Wyoming carries out its work through selective litigation, lobbying at the state and local level, and through public education and awareness of what the Bill of Rights means for the people of Wyoming.
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