Governance

The 1976 Covenant between the United States and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) outlines the relationship between the two and sets forth which sections of the Constitution are applicable to CNMI.^[1]48 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq. The Covenant states that the people of the CNMI have a right to self-governance and that both the CNMI and the United States must agree to any modification of the Covenant.^[2]Covenant §§ 103, 105.

Restrictions

The CNMI Constitution expressly addresses abortion, stating that “[t]he abortion of the unborn child during the mother’s pregnancy is prohibited in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, except as provided by law.”^[3]N. MAR. I. CONST. ART. I, § 12. This constitutional provision was enacted in 1985;^[4]SECOND CONST. CONV. AMEND. 3 (1995) however, there is no operating statute. As explained in a 1995 CNMI Attorney General Opinion, the “qualified right to abortion must be recognized and respected by the CNMI, just as the fifty states have had to recognize and respect it for the last twenty years since Roe v. Wade became the law.”^[5]Att’y Gen. Op., Commonwealth Register Vol. 17, No. 3 at 13,082 (March 15, 1995). Yet, there does not appear to be an abortion provider in CNMI.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, travel restrictions and quarantine mandates further impeded access to abortion care.^[6]Gov. Ralph Torres, Travel and Quarantine Executive Order (March 19, 2020); Gov. Ralph Torres’ COVID-19 Task Force, CNMI COVID-19 FAQ (April 7, 2020); Gov. David Ige, Order for Self-Quarantine … Continue reading

Protections

CNMI does not protect abortion.

Post-Roe Prohibitions

CNMI had a pre-Roe ban in the Trust Territory Code, which predated the 1976 Covenant.^[7]11 T.T.C. § 51 (1966). The then-local High Court invalidated the provision in 1971 as void for vagueness, overturning in the process the conviction of a pregnant woman who had caused her own miscarriage.^[8]Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands v. Christina Tarkong, 5 T.T.R. 252 (H.C. App. Div. 1971).

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, it is somewhat unclear what the status of abortion will be in CNMI; there is currently no law regulating abortion. The local constitution leaves open the possibility that the CNMI legislature could enact a statute protecting abortion access, because abortion is prohibited except as provided by law.^[9]N. MAR. I. CONST. ART. I, §. 12. However, there is a very real possibility that abortion would be prohibited entirely.