United States: Court temporarily suspends abortion ban in Louisiana

Published on: 06/28/2022 – 02:52 In Louisiana, a judge has decided to suspend laws that prohibit women from having abortions, at least until July 8, the date of a hearing to hear complaints filed by a clinic and medical students. This is the beginning of a long legal battle on this subject. A Louisiana judge on Monday (June 27) temporarily suspended laws prohibiting women in that state from having abortions, adding to the confusion in the United States since the reversal of the Supreme Court on the subject. The high court on Friday overturned the “Roe v. Wade” decision which for nearly 50 years had guaranteed the right of American women to terminate their pregnancies, giving states the freedom to ban abortions. Several were immediately quick to declare the Illegal abortions on their territory, based in particular on laws that have remained dormant so far. Others intend to reduce the delays for abortion. But the legal counterattack was quick, with suits filed in state courts rather than federal courts. In Louisiana, a clinic and medical students attacked the three laws banning abortions, arguing that they are too “vague” since they do not clearly specify the exceptions or the associated penalties. Judge Robin Giarrusso on Monday blocked those laws until a hearing on July 8. One victory, many legal battles “Abortions can resume in Louisiana,” the Center for Reproductive Rights, which represented the plaintiffs, immediately tweeted. “Every day a clinic is open can make a difference in someone’s life,” clinic president Nancy Northup said in a statement. promised “to do everything in (his) power to ensure that laws protecting unborn children come into force”. Comparable battles are being played out across the country. In Utah, a court has also temporarily suspended the ban on abortion, following a complaint filed by the powerful family planning association Planned Parenthood. This represents “a victory, but it is only the first step in this which will undoubtedly be a long and difficult fight”, commented the association, which had brought these lawsuits on the grounds that the ban on abortions violates, according to it, the Constitution of the State. The same argument is advanced in Florida by critics of a law reducing to 15 weeks the legal deadline for an abortion, which is due to come into force on Friday. Other procedures take place in Ohio, Kentucky, Idaho, Texas or even Mississippi. This guerrilla should delay the deadline but, according to the Guttmacher Institute, half of the States, especially in the south and the center conservative and religious, should in the more or less long term ban abortions on their soil. With AFP