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.
Results
Choice
Votes
%
Yes
181,984
76.98%
No
54,405
23.02%
Valid votes
236,389
94.29%
Invalid or blank votes
14,312
5.71%
Total votes
250,701
100.00%
Yes
80%–90%
70%–80%
60%–70%
Constitutional Amendment A is an amendment of the Wyoming Constitution enacted in 2012 to enshrine the right of individuals to make their own health care decisions. The amendment was passed principally in opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
The amendment was primarily sponsored by Wyoming State Senator Leslie Nutting (7th district)[1] intended to prohibit people from being compelled to participate in the ACA.[2] Opponents of the amendment said that the amendment would disallow healthcare access to many Wyoming residents,[3] and that the amendment would have unintended consequences.[1]
Provisions
The amendment created a new Section 38 within Article 1 of the Wyoming constitution entitled "Right of health care access".[4] Amongst other things,the amendment created the following line within the Wyoming Constitution:
Each competent adult shall have the right to make his or her own health care decisions.
—Wyoming Constitution, Excerpt of Article 1, Section 38
Results
The following table details the results by county:[5]
Following the US Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, state legislatures were allowed to regulate any aspect of abortion. The Wyoming State Legislature passed HB92, a trigger law that would ban abortion beginning five days after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.[6] The amendment had the unintended impact of allowing a lawsuit against HB92 that alleged that HB92 violated the state constitution by denying competent individuals the right to make their own health care decisions.[7][8][9] On January 6, 2026, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled abortion restrictions unconstitutional under said amendment, stating that "whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy is a woman’s own health care decision protected by Article 1, Section 38."[10][11]
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