Wellspring Clinic to reopen after judge grants injunction on abortion laws

CASPER, Wyo. — A state judge has ruled against two Wyoming laws passed this year that added restrictions to abortion providers and effectively closed the Wellspring Health Access clinic in Casper for almost two months.

“We are delighted and relieved that we can once again see patients at our clinic in Casper,” clinic founder Julie Burkhart wrote in a release on Monday. “Individuals from every corner of Wyoming rely on us for quality, reliable reproductive health care. We are grateful to Judge Campbell for granting our request for an injunction.”

House Bill 42 required abortion clinics to be regulated as “ambulatory surgical centers” and for physicians to have specific admitting privileges, licensing and data reporting requirements.

Attorneys for the Wellspring clinic and other plaintiffs said fulfilling these requirements may take years and significant capital investment, including renovations to the clinic in Casper.

The suit also targeted the new law requiring patients receiving an abortion to get an ultrasound not less than 48 hours before the procedure, a bill that passed over Governor Mark Gordon’s veto. Gordon explained that the intrusive procedure could retraumatize victims of sexual assault.

The plaintiffs said the laws were specifically targeted at the Wellspring Clinic, the only one in the state providing abortions. The release said the clinic will reopen on Thursday.

This story will be updated with information from the order by Judge Thomas Campbell.