Wyoming Constitutional Amendment A, Right to Make Healthcare Decisions and Direct Healthcare Payments Amendment (2012)
| Wyoming Constitutional Amendment A | |
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| Election date |
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| Topic Constitutional rights and Private health insurance |
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| Status |
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| Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment |
Origin |
Wyoming Constitutional Amendment A was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Wyoming on November 6, 2012. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported this amendment to: • provide a state constitutional right to adults to make their own healthcare decisions; • provide a state constitutional right to persons to make direct payments to healthcare providers without penalties; and • allow the Legislature to determine reasonable and necessary restrictions on these rights "to protect the health and general welfare of the people or to accomplish the other purposes set forth in the Wyoming Constitution." |
A "no" vote opposed adding this amendment to the Wyoming Constitution. |
Election results
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Wyoming Constitutional Amendment A |
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| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
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181,984 | 76.98% | ||
| No | 54,405 | 23.02% | ||
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- Results are officially certified.
- Source
Aftermath
Wyoming v. Johnson
On January 6, 2026, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that since Amendment A provided that "each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions," Amendment A preempted state laws that prohibited abortion. The ruling was 4-1, with Chief Justice Lynne Boomgaarden writing the majority's opinion. Justice Kari Gray dissented.[1]
The court's opinion held that abortion is healthcare: "As a medical means to address the adverse effects of pregnancy and ‘restore’ a woman to a ‘condition of being sound in body, mind, or spirit,’ abortion is ‘health care,’ in accordance with the plain meaning of that phrase in Article 1, § 38. ... We therefore conclude that the phrase ‘health care’ includes abortion care and that the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a ‘health care decision.’" The opinion concluded, "The State did not meet its burden of proving the Abortion Laws are necessary to achieve a compelling government interest or are narrowly tailored to avoid unduly infringing on a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions."[1]
Justice Gray, who dissented, wrote, "Wyoming voters placed the right of each competent adult to make his or her own health care decisions into the constitution, and they simultaneously allowed the legislature to ‘determine reasonable and necessary restrictions’ on that right..." She also wrote, "When properly construed, the abortion statutes constitute a ‘reasonable and necessary’ restriction by the legislature on the right of a pregnant woman to make her own health care decisions for the purpose of preserving prenatal life at all stages of development."[1]
Gov. Mark Gordon (R) called for a state constitutional amendment to address the court's ruling. He said, "This ruling may settle, for now, a legal question, but it does not settle the moral one, nor does it reflect where many Wyoming citizens stand, including myself. It is time for this issue to go before the people for a vote."[2]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Constitutional Amendment A was as follows:
| “ | The adoption of this amendment will provide that the right to make health care decisions is reserved to the citizens of the state of Wyoming. It permits any person to pay and any health care provider to receive direct payment for services. The amendment permits the legislature to place reasonable and necessary restrictions on health care consistent with the purposes of the Wyoming Constitution and provides that this state shall act to preserve these rights from undue governmental infringement. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Constitutional changes
- See also: Wyoming Declaration of Rights
Constitutional Amendment A added a Section 38, titled Right to Health Care Access, to the Wyoming Declaration of Rights. The following underlined language was added:[3]
(a) Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions. The parent, guardian or legal representative of any other natural person shall have the right to make health care decisions for that person.
(b) Any person may pay, and a health care provider may accept, direct payment for health care without imposition of penalties or fines for doing so.
(c) The legislature may determine reasonable and necessary restrictions on the rights granted under this section to protect the health and general welfare of the people or to accomplish the other purposes set forth in the Wyoming Constitution.
(d) The state of Wyoming shall act to preserve these rights from undue governmental infringement.[4]
Path to the ballot
Amending the Wyoming Constitution
- See also: Amending the Wyoming Constitution
A two-thirds vote is required during one legislative session for the Wyoming State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 42 votes in the Wyoming House of Representatives and 20 votes in the Wyoming State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.
Senate Joint Resolution 2 (2011)
The following is the timeline of the constitutional amendment in the state legislature:[5]
- Sen. Leslie Nutting (R-7) introduced Senate Joint Resolution 2.
- February 1, 2011: The Wyoming State Senate voted 23-7 to approve the resolution.
- February 15, 2011: The Wyoming House of Representatives voted 49-11 to approve the resolution.
| Votes Required to Pass: 20 | |||
| Yes | No | NV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 23 | 7 | 0 |
| Total % | 76.7% | 23.3% | 0.0% |
| Democratic (D) | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Republican (R) | 22 | 4 | 0 |
| Votes Required to Pass: 42 | |||
| Yes | No | NV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 49 | 11 | 0 |
| Total % | 81.7% | 18.3% | 0.0% |
| Democratic (D) | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Republican (R) | 48 | 2 | 0 |
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Wyoming Supreme Court, "Wyoming, et al. v. Johnson, et al.," January 6, 2025
- ↑ Associated Press, "Abortion stays legal in Wyoming as its top court strikes down laws, including first US pill ban," January 6, 2025
- ↑ Wyoming Secretary of State, "2012 Ballot Issues," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source.
- ↑ Wyoming State Legislature, "Senate Joint Resolution 2," accessed March 23, 2023
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