Wyoming governor signs ban on abortions after about 6 weeks but cites misgivings

Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon on Monday signed ban on abortions after embryotic cardiac activity can be detected, generally at about six weeks’ gestation and often before women know they’re pregnant.

The signing makes Wyoming the fifth state to bar abortions at that stage of pregnancy, along with Florida, Georgia, Iowa and South Carolina. Thirteen other states bar abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions.

Gordon, a Republican, said in a letter to lawmakers Monday that he has some misgivings about the law he signed because it does not include exceptions for pregnancies caused by rape or incest. “Where the act does not align to my pro-life stance is in the concern for specific vulnerable populations,” he wrote.

The law does make an exception in cases to “preserve the woman from an imminent peril that substantially endangers her life or health, according to appropriate medical judgment.”

The other issue, Gordon said, is that the law “very likely puts us back in the all too familiar and unfortunate territory of pro-life litigation.” The state’s Supreme Court in January stuck down a ban on abortion throughout pregnancy.

Already on Monday, Julie Burkhart, president of Wellspring Health Access — the state’s only clinic offering both abortion procedures and abortion by medication — said in a statement that she was prepared to challenge the new ban in court.

“This ban is an attack on Wyomingites’ constitutional freedom to make their own health care decisions, and it puts the health and well-being of our communities at risk,” she said.

Abortion access in Wyoming has varied in recent years, in part because the state’s sole clinic was set on fire in 2022, delaying its opening. At times, it has offered only medication abortion. The state Health Department says that in 2024, the last year for which records have been compiled, there were 625 abortions in the state.

Katie Knutter, executive director of the Casper-based clinic, said that it provided 303 abortions in 2025. She said the staff on Monday started referring patients who are farther along in their pregnancies to providers in other states.

Whether states allow abortion has been in flux since a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to enforce bans.