Wyoming bans gender-affirming care for minors; keeps gun-free zones intact

Wyoming’s governor approved and vetoed a series of hot-button bills on Friday, including putting a stop to additional restrictions on abortion, allowing gun-free zones to exist, banning gender-affirming care for minors and limiting funding to educational savings accounts,

Gov. Mark Gordan, a Republican, had until midnight to either sign the legislation, veto it or allow it to pass without his signature.

Abortion restrictions legislation: vetoed

In his veto letter to the secretary of state, Gordan rejected the highly controversial bill that would’ve required facilities providing surgical abortions to be licensed as outpatient centers, significantly adding to their costs and legal bureaucracy.

Civil rights groups, including the ACLU of Wyoming, declared that it would impose “burdensome and medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion providers and clinics with the goal of forcing them to shut down.”

Had the bill been approved, women seeking termination of a pregnancy would have been required to undergo ultrasounds no less than 48 hours before treatment to determine the gestational age, location, and viability of the fetus.

The bill focused on the state’s lone abortion clinic, Wellspring Health Access in Casper, which was the target of an arson attack in 2022 as new laws in Wyoming seek to ban abortion in nearly all cases.

Abortion is currently legal in Wyoming, pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging new laws to stop the procedure, including the nation's first explicit ban on abortion pills.

The governor’s veto cited his support for two prior abortion-restricting bills that are currently stalled in court and stated that passage of this year’s bill would further delay the question of abortion’s constitutionality in Wyoming.

“The state is closer than ever to a decision on the constitutionality of abortion in Wyoming,” Gorden said in a statement and voiced concerns that the bill could further delay the court’s decision.

Gender-affirming care ban for minors: approved

While rejecting the abortion bill, Gordon did sign into law a measure that bans gender-affirming care for minors and penalizes healthcare professionals who provide treatment, including hormonal therapy and surgeries, to those under the age of 18.

Wyoming joins 23 other states with partial or complete gender-affirming care bans.

The governor offered his support for the ban while acknowledging that the legislation could be viewed as the government “straying into the personal affairs of families.”

Education savings accounts for school choice: line-item veto

The governor enacted a line item veto on a bill that created education savings accounts that would allow Wyoming families to use public dollars to pay for private, charter, or certain types of homeschool-based education. A line-item veto means that the governor only struck out certain aspects of the bill without vetoing it entirely.

More:Wyoming approves sweeping changes to school choice, awaiting governor's signature

Gorden narrowed the income range of families eligible to open education savings accounts to 150% of the poverty level, compared to the 500% that was baked into the approved legislation. In his line-item veto, Gordon listed questions of constitutionality and raised concerns about providing significant funding to education savings accounts in light of Wyoming’s boom-and-bust budget cycle.

Gun-free zone repeal: vetoed

In his veto letter, Gorden argued that the bill would’ve prevented local control over firearms regulations and was on the verge of “micromanaging a constitutionally protected right”—a stance that infuriated gun rights advocates.

“Mark, you’re a fraud, and gun owners will never forget it. Never.” Wyoming Gun Owners spokesman Aaron Dorr said in a Facebook video after the late-night veto. According to the group, the governor, while a candidate in 2018, responded to the group’s survey on whether he’d repeal gun-free zones and checked the “yes” box.

The bill would’ve allowed people to obtain concealed carry permits to possess weapons, including on public school grounds, state college campuses, local government meetings, and the Capitol.

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus also expressed frustration with the governor on Saturday: “The WYFC condemns his anti-Second Amendment stance and would like to know what made him change his mind,” the group said in a Facebook post.