Louisiana’s ban on abortion is poised to be enforced once again after an appeals court ruled that the state should be allowed a suspensive appel while the lawsuit against the ban proceeds in court.
It wasn’t clear at first when the ban would be lifted. The plaintiffs’ lawyers have argued that the ban can not be applied until Donald Johnson, the state judge in this case signs it.
“It is disappointing that the First Circuit did not allow plaintiffs to challenge the appeal,” Joanna Wright (an attorney for the plaintiff) said. This decision is a technical interpretation of a statute that deals with when a preliminary order should be lifted. A court of appeal has yet to consider Judge Johnson’s decision that plaintiffs are likely to prevail on merits regarding unconstitutional vagueness in the trigger bans.
The decision will likely shut down clinics in the United States for the third consecutive time following the U.S. Supreme Court decision to repeal constitutional protections against abortion last month.
On July 21, Johnson ruled clinics could continue to provide abortion services despite a lawsuit being filed by an abortion clinic in north Louisiana and other clinics.
Johnson rejected a request from Jeff Landry, the Louisiana Attorney General, to suspend his decision. This halted enforcement while defendants appeal.
Landry, in an attempt to reverse Johnson’s decision, filed a supervisory writ with Louisiana’s 1st Court of Appeals on Friday morning. Landry was granted the writ by the court.
Louisiana’s abortion ban doesn’t allow for exceptions to the prohibition against rape and incest. In cases where fetuses are fatally abnormal, the law provides an exception to “medically futile pregnancies”.
