Debate On Abortion Law Gets Emotional On Wyoming House Floor

As two Wyoming legislators sparred over the legal terms of a court ruling, Rep. Kevin Campbell stood to remember a 14-year-old girl. 

The Glenrock-based Republican approached the podium Thursday in the Wyoming House of Representatives to speak in favor of a proposed bill that, if passed, would ban abortions after the point at which a fetal heartbeat can be detected - about six to eight weeks’ gestation.

“I rise before you as the product of a 14-year-old woman and a serviceman,” said Campbell, becoming tearful. “I was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1969. I was adopted that same year. I ask for an aye vote.”

Called upon to conclude the argument on the bill, House Speaker Chip Neiman, R-Hulett, was speechless.

“Man, Campbell, I didn’t expect that,” said Neiman after a beat, then he cleared his throat. “I don’t know what else to say beyond that. … We have to recognize humanity, ladies and gentlemen.”

The bill survived its first-reading debate in the House on Thursday. 

Representatives have two more chances to amend it before they vote on whether to send it to the state Senate, which can change, adopt or reject it.

Up To Birth

Responding to a request for comment, Campbell told Cowboy State Daily in a Thursday text message that his adoptive family was a "fantastic loving family who claimed me as I claim them."

He said he never sought out his birth parents.

A lawyer who went on to become a U.S. Senator, Al Simpson, performed the adoption, Campbell said.

"I did not want to speak (Thursday) because I knew emotions would ruin me," wrote Campbell. "But then I remembered those who can't. So I stood."

Prior to Campbell’s revelation, Neiman told the House that it’s important to pass House Bill 126, in part because Wyoming doesn’t limit abortion at all.

That’s after the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled Jan. 6 in Wyoming v. Johnson that abortion is health care, and that it’s a fundamental right under the state Constitution’s promise of health care autonomy.

Rep. Ken Chestek, D-Laramie, who is a retired law professor, agreed with Neiman that Wyoming’s Roe-v.-Wade-era law banning abortion after viability did not spring back into existence with the high court’s ruling.

But Chestek said the House missed its chance to restrict abortion in a way likelier to survive the court’s scrutiny.

“When the session began, we had two horses in the race to try and fix that,” said Chestek. “This is one of the horses. This body killed the other horse before it got out the gate. … That leaves us with this horse, which I submit to you, is lame.”

The “other horse” was House Bill 138, an abortion restriction all six House Democrats and both state Senate Democrats had cosponsored. It would have codified Roe vs. Wade and greenlit abortions up to viability - about 23 weeks’ gestation.

It would also have made it a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to one year in jail and $5,000 in fines to perform abortions after viability, but would have shielded the mothers who obtain those abortions.

“That would be a reasonable restriction the Legislature could impose based on (the court’s interpretation of the state Constitution),” said Chestek. “We didn’t even get to it.”

The House did not consider HB 138 and it died when it missed its Feb. 13 deadline for introduction.

Chestek said Neiman’s bill favors the life of the fetus while discounting the rights of the mother, that fetal heartbeat is difficult to distinguish from earlier pulse sounds, and that the bill would exacerbate Wyoming’s already-noteworthy obstetrics deserts.

The Waltz

Another attorney in the House, Rep. Martha Lawley, R-Worland, said some tension with the courts, and maybe even a decision striking down the heartbeat bill, is part of the normal interplay between branches of government — and may be important to contour the Legislature’s ability to restrict abortion.

“Sometimes when I hear lawyers suggest we … need to just sit down, that’s a misunderstanding of the interplay between these two branches of government on constitutional issues,” said Lawley.

And prior to Lawley and Chestek sparring over the law, Neiman urged his fellow lawmakers to advance his bill.

He said people ask him why he keeps trying to pass pro-life legislation, an effort he’s undertaken since 2021, when the courts keep blocking Wyoming pro-life laws. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I will say this today,” said Neiman. “I would have fought for you too.

“From where do you think you came? At what point did you become human?” he added. “At what point would you have been glad to have somebody fight for you to be born?”

Health Care Amendment

Gov. Mark Gordon has asked the Legislature to advance an amendment to the state Constitution that would give it the authority to restrict abortion.

That’s after multiple courts have blocked multiple variations of Wyoming abortion bans and restrictions since 2022.

The Senate contemplated a constitutional amendment last week that, had it cleared the Legislature and won an election majority in November, would have given the Legislature the authority to define “health care.”

That amendment failed its introductory vote Feb. 12.

It wasn’t focused narrowly enough on the issue of abortion, multiple Republican Senators who voted against introducing the resolution told Cowboy State Daily at the time.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.