North Dakota passed one of the toughest anti-abortion laws in the country on Monday as a Republican government. Doug Burgum signed legislation banning the procedure during pregnancy, with minor exceptions up to six weeks gestation.

In those early weeks, abortion was allowed only in cases of rape or incest, or in medical emergencies. After six weeks, victims of rape and incest cannot have an abortion. Abortions to treat medical emergencies, such as ectopic pregnancies, are allowed at any stage of pregnancy.

This bill clarifies and refines existing state law… and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state,” Burgum said in a statement.

Last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling ruling Roe v. The 1973 Wade decision, which legalized abortion nationwide, was overturned and has led to multiple state laws prohibiting or restricting the procedure. Many faced legal challenges. Currently, abortion in all stages of pregnancy is banned in at least 13 states, and in other states it has been put on hold due to court orders.

On the other hand, Democratic governors in at least 20 states this year launched a network designed to bolster access to abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision that abolished women’s constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy. and shifted regulatory powers over the procedure to state governments.

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The North Dakota law is intended to go into effect immediately, but last month the state Supreme Court ruled that a previous ban must remain blocked while a lawsuit over its constitutionality continues. Last week, lawmakers said they intended to pass the latest bill as a message to the states high court signaling that the people of North Dakota want to restrict abortion.

Proponents have said the measure signed Monday protects all human lives, while opponents say it will have serious consequences for women and girls.

North Dakota no longer has abortion clinics. Last summer, the state’s only facility, the Red River Women’s Clinic, closed its doors in Fargo and moved operations a short distance across the border to Moorhead, Minn., where abortion remains legal. The owner of the clinic is still in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of North Dakota’s previous abortion ban.

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It is expected that this new ban will also be the subject of legal challenges.

Republican Senator Janne Myrdal of Edinburgh sponsored the latest state legislation.

North Dakota has always been pro-life and believed in evaluating both mothers and children, Myrdal said in an interview. We are quite happy and grateful that the governor stands for that value.

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Democratic Representative Liz Conmy voted against the bill, saying she had hoped Burgum would not sign it.

I don’t think women in North Dakota will accept this, and there will be action to get our rights back in the future, Conmy said. Our legislature is overwhelmingly pro-pregnancy, but I think women in the state would like to make their own decisions.

___This story was first published on April 24, 2023. It was updated on April 25, 2023 to clarify that abortion for the treatment of some medical emergencies, including ectopic pregnancy, is allowed at any stage of pregnancy, not just until a gestational age of up to six weeks under the new law.___Trisha Ahmed is a member of the Corps for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative.

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