Supreme Court issued ruling invalidating 1990 abortion ban

The Guam Supreme Court has issued a ruling essentially invalidating the 1990 law banning abortion on Guam. Governor Lou Leon Guerrero had sought it's opinion after the federal 9th Circuit Court lifted a longstanding Guam District Court injunction against the abortion ban shortly after it was signed 23 years ago.

A Judiciary news release states that Chief Justice Phillip Carbullido sided with the governor, finding that since Roe v. Wade was the prevailing law of the land in 1990, the Guam law was inherently void, and the Guam Legislature had exceeded its authority in passing it.

Justice Carbullido further holds that the invalidation cannot be changed by subsequent shifts in legal interpretation, and that any changes to Guam's abortion policy should come from the legislature. 

Last june the U.S. Supreme Court overruled the landmark Roe v. Wade case, returning jurisdiction of abortion laws to individual states and territories.

The 1990 Guam abortion law had called for an islandwide referendum to decide the issue, but it was never held because the Guam District Court issued a permanent injunction against the abortion law.