Judge John C. Cooper of the Tallahassee Second Court ruled that the law, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in April, would not apply for the time being. Florida currently allows abortions of up to 24 weeks, making the state a haven for women seeking the procedure from all southeastern states with stricter restrictions. Judge Cooper said he would issue an interim injunction across the state. It will not be binding until he signs a written order, which the judge said would not happen on Thursday. The ban takes effect at midnight. Judge Cooper gave relief to Planned Parenthood, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union after a two-day hearing that exposed the nation’s divisive abortion rights debate. The hearing began Monday, three days after the Supreme Court rejected Roe v. Wade, revoking the constitutional right to abortion after nearly 50 years. The state is expected to appeal Judge Cooper’s decision. The matter is likely to be brought before the Florida Supreme Court, which has in the past invoked a privacy amendment that voters wrote in the 1980 State Constitution to prevent other restrictions on abortion. But Mr DeSantis reformed the court after several departures and made it much more conservative. Appointed three of the seven judges of the court. The other four judges were also appointed by Republican governors.
From Opinion: The End of Roe v. Wade
Comment by Times Opinion writers and columnists on the Supreme Court’s decision to terminate the constitutional right to abortion.
Similar legal disputes are taking place in other states, where several plaintiffs claim that their own state constitutions provide specific protections for abortions. On Thursday, a Kentucky judge temporarily blocked an abortion ban triggered by a Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade last week. This law, passed in 2019, required an almost complete ban on the procedure and had already led clinics to remove patients. As in Florida and other states, plaintiffs’ attorneys have argued that the Kentucky Constitution protects the right to abortion. Eventually, however, the fight in court in Kentucky could be short-lived. In November, voters there will consider a measure that would establish that the state has no constitutional right to abortion. Florida law banning 15-week abortions, which does not include exceptions to rape or incest, is similar to the Mississippi Statute at the heart of the Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade. The DeSantis administration argued that reducing abortions would protect the health of mothers, who would no longer be at increased risk of having the procedure later in pregnancy. “They could have done it sooner, which is safer,” said James H. Percival, deputy attorney general. However, the plaintiffs’ attorneys replied that many women who request an abortion after 15 weeks do so because of difficult circumstances that prevent them from trying to do the procedure earlier, including learning about a fetal abnormality from the type of exams that can not be done. later. pregnancy. The current 24-week Florida ban is intended to limit abortions as fetuses are viable outside the womb. “Neither an interest in maternal health nor an interest in fetal life can support the ban prior to fetal viability,” said Whitney Leigh White, an ACLU lawyer. Judge Cooper insisted in court that the issue discussed in Florida was the State Constitution. “I am here to claim the right to privacy in Florida,” he said Monday. “I’m not here to sue Roe against Wade.” But much of the testimony has focused on the safety of abortion anyway, when life begins and when a fetus can feel pain. More than 79,000 abortions were performed in Florida last year. Dr. Shelly Tien, a gynecologist who performs abortions at a Planned Parenthood Clinic in Jacksonville and an Arizona clinic, testified that women seeking abortions after 15 weeks often do so in the midst of a crisis. “Women and girls who need abortions after 15 weeks tend to have the most difficult and demanding living conditions,” she said, citing poverty, domestic abuse and the complications of a desired pregnancy. Submitting on behalf of the state, Dr. Ingrid Skop, senior fellow and director of medical affairs at Charlotte Lozier Institute, an anti-abortion research organization, described abortion as “substantially more difficult and dangerous after the 15th week of pregnancy” and criticized the state of data collection across the country. “We greatly underestimate the complications” of abortions, he said. In one particular case, a synagogue in South Florida also challenged the 15-week ban. In the days since Roe ousted Wade, Republican leaders in Florida have hinted at pursuing further abortion restrictions, without specifying how far they can go. Florida “will work to extend life protection,” DeSantis said in a statement last Friday. Avoid questions about abortion at a public event on Monday. Opinion polls have shown that, unlike some other southern states, the majority of Florida residents support the legalization of abortion. Alexandra Glorioso contributed to the report from Tallahassee, Fla.
