North Dakota

05/22/2013
Affirmative Action

"It was being immersed in a diverse college setting that gave me the understanding and tools to fight for social justice."

By Jana Kooren, ACLU of Minnesota at 5:18pm

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision soon in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin to determine if the University of Texas can consider race as one factor, among many, in attempting to create a diverse educational experience for its students. Yet, what critics of affirmative action often gloss over is that our nation's K-12 schools are more segregated by race and class than when Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, for many students of all races and classes, college is the first time many students are enriched by a diverse environment.

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03/14/2013
Abortion Legislation

How Can North Dakota Pols Ban Abortion? Let Me Count the Ways.

By Elissa Berger, Advocacy and Policy Counsel, ACLU at 5:31pm

Update: The North Dakota legislature passed a bill today that bans most abortions in the state. Should this bill be signed into law by the governor, North Dakota will become the first state in the nation to ban most abortions.

Some politicians in North Dakota are so intent on taking away a woman’s ability to make personal, private decisions they are pushing a package of bills that, together, would ban abortion, prevent women’s health centers from providing comprehensive care, and block many people’s attempts at even starting a family.

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02/06/2013
Abortion Legislation

State Politicians May Force Me to Turn Away Patients

By Dr. Stephanie Dahl, Physician at 10:28am

I am a doctor in North Dakota, and I love my work. One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is helping cancer survivors who are now facing infertility from their lifesaving chemotherapy and radiation treatments achieve their dream of having a family. Some of these patients require in-vitro fertilization to have a baby, but others must rely on donor sperm or donor egg. However, if some of our lawmakers have their way, I will have to turn away cancer survivors and as well as many other couples with infertility.

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03/21/2013
Abortion Legislation

North Dakota Might Ban Abortion. What Do You Need to Know?

By Elissa Berger, Advocacy and Policy Counsel, ACLU at 2:15pm

What passed the legislature in North Dakota?

Two bills are on their way to the Governor's desk: HB 1456 would ban most abortions. The ban on abortion starts very early in pregnancy, before a woman may know the health of her pregnancy and before she may even know she is pregnant at all.

HB 1305 would force health care providers to police their patients' reasons for having an abortion and would ban some abortions because of those reasons, including making it illegal for a woman to have an abortion because of a serious medical complication with her baby. Indeed, this bill would even ban abortions in circumstances when the complication is fatal.

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06/13/2012
Using Religion to Discriminate

North Dakotans Reject A Wolf In Sheep’s Clothing

By Daniel Mach at 9:38am

Yesterday, voters across North Dakota wisely rejected Measure 3, a proposed amendment to the state constitution that could have undermined crucial health, safety, and civil rights protections in the state. Measure 3, the so-called “Religious Liberty Restoration Amendment,” would have created a new, vastly expanded constitutional right to invoke religious freedom as an excuse to discriminate, ignore existing state and local laws, and claim an entitlement to taxpayer funds and other state benefits. The vote was a victory for all North Dakotans, the great majority of whom recognize that religious freedom need not come at the expense of other cherished rights and values. 

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