CHEYENNE, Wyo. — The Wyoming Supreme Court made a decision about who can join the case of Johnson v. Wyoming as an intervenor. This case will decide if the recent abortion bans are legal under the Wyoming Constitution. The intervenors will not be able to take part.
Two laws against abortion were passed by the Wyoming Legislature last year. A brief restraining order from Ninth District Court Judge Melissa Owens stopped both HB152 (the “Life is a Human Right Act”) and SF109 (the “Prohibiting Chemical Abortions Act”).
Representatives Rachel Rodriguez-Williams and Chip Neiman of Wyoming asked to be involved in the case, as did the pro-life group Right to Life Wyoming. In 2023, Owens said no to the request. When the Wyoming Supreme Court released its opinion on Friday, it agreed with Owens’ denial.
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At the pre-trial meeting in December, everyone talked about the intervenors. Peter Modlin, the lawyer for the people who were suing to stop the ban, told the court that the intervenors shouldn’t be allowed to take part.
“If you start to let lawmakers get involved, we’ll have another political debate in court, which is not right,” Modlin said. The same finding was reached by the state court on Friday.
The judges said Owens had a good reason to think that the intervenors would slow down the case and might make the decision more political.
“Because the Proposed Intervenors do not have a significant protectable interest in the litigation, the district court did not err in denying their motion to intervene as of right,” the decision of the court says.
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