Photo: AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe
Judges in Florida and Kentucky have temporarily stopped their states from enforcing bans and restrictions on abortion in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision tooverturnRoe v. Wade.
In Tallahassee, Florida, Circuit Court Judge John Cooper granted a petition from Planned Parenthood of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union to temporarily put on hold the state law that bans abortions after the 15th week of pregnancy,Reutersreports.
The law, which provide no exceptions in case of rape or incest, was set to go into effect on Friday, but Cooper ruled that it went against the language in Florida’s constitution.
“Women have a privacy right under the state constitution,” Cooper said in the ruling,Tallahassee Democratreports.
According to the group, Florida’s new abortion law violates the right to privacy in the state’s constitution, the outlet reports. This is not the first time the privacy clause has been used to prevent abortion restrictions in the state, and decades ago a law that required minors to get parental consent before getting an abortion was banned with the same legal backing.
Protests Break Out Across The U.S. As Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade.Allison Joyce/Getty Images
Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Jefferson County Circuit Judge Mitch Perry issued a temporary restraining order on Thursday, preventing the state from enforcing the state’s 2019 “trigger” law that completely bans abortions in the state, Reuters reports.
Planned Parenthood and EMW Women’s Surgical Center, the only two abortion providers in the state, are currently reviewing the order and plan to resume providing abortions whenever possible,USA Todayreports.
“We’re glad the court recognized the devastation happening in Kentucky and decided to block the commonwealth’s cruel abortion bans,” said Planned Parenthood, EMW and the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, in a statement to the outlet.
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron released astatementThursday criticizing the restraining order.
“In the wake of an [sic] historic victory for life at the nation’s highest court, today, one judge in Kentucky has, without basis in the Kentucky Constitution, allowed two clinics to resume abortions,” the statement said. “We cannot let the same mistake that happened inRoe v. Wade, nearly 50 years ago, to be made again in Kentucky. We will be seeking relief from this order.”
Abortion rights protest.Brandon Bell/Getty
Before last week’s SCOTUS decision, many conservative-led states had already put in place restrictions on who can have an abortion andat which stage of pregnancy. WithRoeoverturned, more Americans will soon be barred from abortions.
13 states — Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming — had so-called “trigger bans” in place that will enable them to ban abortions within a month of the decision,according to the Guttmacher Institute, a non-profit research institute focused on reproductive health and rights.
Ryan Schroeder/PEOPLE
Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Dakota enacted their “trigger bans” on June 24, the dayRoewas overturned, and Tennessee followed on June 28. Two more states — Louisiana and Utah — also immediately enacted abortion bans but like Kentucky, a judge has temporarily blocked them.
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Another five states — Alabama, Arizona, Michigan, West Virginia and Wisconsin — had state bans on abortions in place beforeRoeestablished the nationwide right to abortion in 1973, and they could all enforce them again now that the case is overturned.
And three more — Georgia, Iowa, and South Carolina — have passed bans or extreme limits on abortion thatcould go into effect.
And inOhio, Attorney General Dave Yostannounced June 24 that the state’s Heartbeat Bill, which criminalizes all abortions after 6 weeks of pregnancy is now law.
The Guttmacher Institute also identifies Indiana, Montana and Nebraska as states that are likely to restrict abortion withRoeoverturned based on the political leanings of the legislators currently in office.
source: people.com
