Reuters
(Reuters) -A North Dakota state court judge on Thursday overturned the state's near-total abortion ban, clearing the way for abortion to become legal in the Midwestern state for the first time in more than a year. Judge Bruce Romanick in Bismarck found that the state constitution protects women's right to an abortion before the fetus is viable, siding with abortion providers challenging the ban. "This is a win for reproductive freedom, and means it is now much safer to be pregnant in North Dakota," Meetra Mehdizadeh, a lawyer at the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights, which represents the plaintiffs, said in a statement.