As the 2023 Wyoming Legislative Session works towards a scheduled Friday adjournment, the fate of a couple of high-profile bills hangs in the balance.

Both House Bill 152, the Life is a Human Right Act, and Senate File 133, the Student eligibility in interscholastic sports bill, met a Monday deadline for approval by the Committee of the Whole in the second house of the legislature and remained alive for this session.

House Bill 152 as originally written would have, among other things, removed exemptions for rape and incest from an abortion law passed by lawmakers last year. Last year's legislation remains tied up in court, however, and as of right now, abortion remains legal in Wyoming.

But House Bill 152 has been heavily amended from the original version.

The Wyoming House changed the bill to become a "trigger law" that would take effect only if last year's abortion law is found unconstitutional.

A Senate Committee last week then amended the bill to eliminate the change in exemptions for rape and incest, meaning that if that version of the bill becomes law, those exemptions would remain in place.

But the Senate could yet change the latest version of the bill, and since it seems likely that even if the Senate passes the measure it will head to a House-Senate Conference Committee, what the final version of the legislation will look like if it passes the Senate is not yet clear.

A bill that would ban trans athletes from competing in girls K-12 sports also remained alive at last report. That legislation is sponsored by Sen. Wendy Schuler [R-Uinta County]. Supporters of the legislation, say that people who are born as males have unfair advantages in size and strength over females. Opponents of the measure say it's discriminatory and isn't needed.

2022's Deadliest Wyoming County by Traffic Deaths

While car crashes can occur anywhere, some roads in Wyoming are more dangerous than others.

According to Wyoming Highway Patrol data, there were 117 fatal crashes in the Cowboy State in 2022 resulting in 133 deaths.

Of those fatal crashes, the majority (13.68%) occurred in Laramie County -- two in January, one in February, one in March, two in April, one in June, two in July, three in August, two in September, one in November, and one in December.

Sweetwater County saw the second most fatal crashes last year, 12, while Fremont and Lincoln counties each saw 10.

Albany and Park counties each recorded eight, and Campbell, Converse, and Natrona counties each tallied seven.

The deadliest 2022 crash in Laramie County took place on June 17 when two semis collided on Interstate 80 east of Cheyenne and immediately became engulfed in flames killing both drivers and a passenger.



Laramie County also saw two fatal crashes involving motorcyclists, two fatal crashes involving juveniles, and a fatal crash involving a pedestrian last year.

Below is the Wyoming Highway Patrol narrative of every fatal crash that occurred in Laramie County in 2022.

 

More From KGAB