Amici are scholars with expertise on the intersection between the constitutional right of reproductive freedom and self-defense. The brief responds to Justice Tufte’s concurrence in the North Dakota Supreme Court’s prior ruling that the abortion ban was likely unconstitutional, in which he offers an invitation to demonstrate how the constitutional right to self-defense guarantees a parallel constitutional right to abortion care. Amici argue that North Dakota’s constitutional and statutory self-defense rights permit a person to use force to resist nonconsensual intrusions of their bodily integrity. They therefore argue that the amended abortion ban violates North Dakota’s constitutional right to self-defense.

Pro bono counsel is Fried Frank and local counsel is Ringstrom Dekrey.