Prohibition on Abortion After 15 Weeks Is In Effect in Florida

We reported that during the 2022 Florida Legislative Session, legislators passed and Governor DeSantis signed into law a ban on abortion after 15 weeks gestation. In response, several pro-abortion organizations recently sued the state of Florida challenging the constitutionality of the new law. On June 30, a circuit judge said he would enter a temporary injunction preventing the law from going into effect on or shortly after the law’s effective date of July 1. He issued that ruling on Tuesday, July 5. 

Attorney General Ashley Moody promptly appealed that ruling.  With her appeal, the injunction is stayed and the law goes into effect while the challenge works its way through the judicial system.  We are pleased that the law is in effect.

This case, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, et al. v. State of Florida, could be the ultimate test of whether a privacy clause in Florida’s constitution will prohibit the state from restricting abortion procedures before viability. In 1989, the right to privacy in our state constitution was misinterpreted by the Florida Supreme Court in In re T.W. to protect a woman’s decision to obtain an abortion before viability. The case challenging the 15-week abortion law may prompt the court to revisit its wrongful ruling. 

Please pray for the judges, justices, clerks and court staff who may handle this case is it moves forward, for the attorneys defending the law, and for an ultimate understanding of the Florida constitution that ratifies further legal efforts to protect the dignity of the unborn. 

###