abortion in north dakota abortion in north dakota abortion in north dakota is illegal. the state's sole abortion clinic has been moved to minnesota. following the united states supreme court's ruling to overturn roe v. wade on june 24, 2022, the state's trigger law, hb 1466, been blocked by a district court since july. under the trigger law, performance of an abortion is a class c felony subject to a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, or both. the person performing the abortion who is charged under the law can only be excused from criminal liability by proving one of the following affirmative defenses: the abortion was necessary to prevent the death of the mother, the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, or the individual performing the abortion was acting in the scope of his or her regulated profession and under the direction of a physician. a state district court issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the law while the court is deciding the merits of the case, and the north dakota supreme court has upheld this injunction. history legislative history by 1950, the state legislature had passed a law stating that a woman who had an abortion or actively sought to have an abortion regardless of whether she went through with it was guilty of a criminal offense. the state was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement. mississippi, nebraska, north dakota and ohio all had statutes in 2007 that required specific informed consent on abortion but also, by statute, allowed medical doctors performing abortions to disassociate themselves with the anti-abortion materials they were required to provide to their female patients. north dakota's informed consent materials included a definition for fetus stating it is "a latin word meaning young one or offspring". according to north dakota's materials, at 10 weeks, the fetus "now has a distinct human appearance" and "eyelids are formed". the materials say at 14 weeks, the fetus "is able to swallow" and "sleeps and awakens". north dakota's hb 1572, otherwise known as the personhood of children act, was a bill in the north dakota legislature which aimed to "provide equality and rights to all human beings at every stage of biological development". this step could have eventually eliminated all types of abortion for nearly any reason in the state of north dakota. it would have allocated rights to “the pre-born, partially born”. if it had passed, it would have likely been used to challenge roe v. wade. in march 2013, gov. jack dalrymple of north dakota signed into law a bill presented to him by the legislature that would have banned abortions in the state six weeks after a woman's first missed period (north dakota hb 1456). only north dakota successfully passed a such a "fetal heartbeat" law that year, although it was later struck down by the courts. gov. dalrymple stated that it was "a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of roe v. wade". in 2013, state targeted regulation of abortion providers (trap) had provisions related to admitting privileges and licensing. they required clinics have hospital privileges. the state had a law on the books as of august 2018 that would be triggered if roe v. wade was overturned. as of mid-may 2019, abortion in north dakota was banned after week 22. abortion in north dakota remains legal following the united states' supreme court ruling to overturn roe v. wade on june 24, 2022. the state has a trigger law, banning all abortions, which has been blocked by a court since july. under the trigger law, performance of an abortion is a class c felony subject to a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment, a $10,000 fine, or both. the person performing the abortion who is charged under the law can only be excused from criminal liability by proving one of the following affirmative defenses: the abortion was necessary to prevent the death of the mother, the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, or the individual performing the abortion was acting in the scope of his or her regulated profession and under the direction of a physician. a state district court issued a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of the law while the court is deciding the merits of the case. judicial history the us supreme court's decision in 1973's roe v. wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester. (however, the supreme court overturned roe v. wade in dobbs v. jackson women's health organization, no. 19-1392, 597 u.s. ___ (2022) later in 2022.) in july 2015 the eighth circuit court of appeals affirmed a lower court decision blocking hb 1456 (a "fetal heartbeat" law that would ban abortion from six weeks after fertilization) from going into effect. the u.s. supreme court declined to review the case and the law remains permanently blocked. in july 2013, a lawsuit had been filed with regard to the law by the center for reproductive rights (crr), on behalf of the only abortion clinic in north dakota, red river women's clinic. in july 2015, the 8th u.s. circuit court of appeals blocked the bill. the case was appealed to the supreme court, but the court denied a writ of certiorari in january 2015 and let stand the decision of the 8th circuit court of appeals. following the dobbs decision, burleigh county district judge bruce romanick granted a preliminary injunction on the state's trigger law on abortion, which was upheld by the state supreme court. clinic history number of abortion clinics in north dakota by year