Florida judge weighs injunction against 15-week abortion ban

TALLAHASSEE

A Leon County circuit judge is predicted to rule Thursday on a ask for to block a new Florida legislation that bars abortions past 15 weeks of being pregnant, following a fight of specialist witnesses performed out in court docket Monday.

Judge John Cooper will hear closing arguments Thursday, the day right before the law (HB 5) is scheduled to take result. Cooper claimed he intends to rule from the bench about whether to problem a temporary injunction sought by plaintiffs.

Abortion clinics across the point out and a physician who performs abortions submitted the lawsuit June 1 against quite a few defendants, including point out attorneys, condition Surgeon Standard Joseph Ladapo and Company for Health and fitness Treatment Administration Secretary Simone Marstiller.

The lawsuit hinges on an argument that the regulation, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on April 14, violates a privacy clause in the state Structure.

“As the Florida Supreme Court docket has consistently acknowledged, this wide right to privateness features a woman’s suitable to make a decision to terminate a pregnancy,” an introductory component of the lawsuit explained.

Monday’s hearing, on the other hand, centered on witness testimony that dealt primarily with abortion data and medical and scientific features of abortion — with arguments about privateness challenges scarcely introduced up.

Plaintiff Shelly Tien, an obstetrician and gynecologist who also practices interior fetal medication, was named as an skilled witness by lawyers representing her and the abortion clinics. Tien operates with Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida in Jacksonville and testified that she has performed abortions on patients who have passed 15 weeks of being pregnant.

Tien was questioned about who would be most impacted by the new legislation.

“Women and women who want abortions just after 15 months are all those that have a tendency to have the most challenging and powerful lifestyle conditions,” Tien stated.

Chief Deputy Lawyer Common John Guard cross-examined Tien and mostly concentrated his questions on the variety of abortions carried out right after the 15-7 days mark, a reasonably tiny amount of money as opposed to abortions done previously in pregnancies.

“Ninety-six-level-four p.c of ladies who receive an abortion in the point out of Florida would not be impacted by HB 5, suitable?” Guard questioned.

“Or, 1,600 [women] would be,” Cooper interjected.

Contrary testimony

Lawyers for the state termed two witnesses affiliated with the Charlotte Lozier Institute, which they described as the “research arm” of the lobbying firm Susan B. Anthony Professional-Lifetime America.

Maureen Condic, a professor of neurobiology at the University of Utah, testified that daily life starts primarily at the minute of conception and that fetuses are able of emotion pain.

Condic was questioned by an legal professional for the plaintiffs if she would describe herself as professional-everyday living.

“I would characterize myself as a scientist,” Condic stated. “And the scientific proof has led me to conclude that a human staying exists from sperm-egg fusion and is able of soreness encounter. People two conclusions have led me to a posture that safeguarding that life is an crucial interest.”

Cooper interrupted a line of questioning by an attorney for the state, in which Condic was remaining requested when daily life starts. Condic was in the middle of answering, saying that lifetime commences on “sperm-egg fusion.”

“I’m not here to litigate abortion, I’m here to litigate the proper to privateness in Florida. I’m not here to litigate Roe v. Wade,” Cooper claimed.

The state’s other witness was Ingrid Skop, senior fellow and director of healthcare affairs for the Charlotte Lozier Institute. Skop also is a previous obstetrician and gynecologist who claimed she practiced in Texas.

Skop was asked about no matter if she thinks the new legislation will impede entry to abortion.

“I think a limitation may trigger some women of all ages to request before abortions, which would be safer for them. The interpretation of the literature that discusses the good reasons that females attain later abortions, which is primarily from abortion suppliers these kinds of as the Guttmacher Institute, explain to me unequivocally that several girls who seek these quite late abortions do so under coercion, they do so under indecision,” Skop reported.

The Guttmacher Institute is a nonprofit organization that conducts investigation and supports abortion rights.

Privateness ideal is a point out situation

The listening to arrived amid a countrywide discussion about abortion right after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion-rights choice. The privacy appropriate in the Florida Structure, on the other hand, has very long performed a vital part in abortion instances in the state.

A spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which is aiding characterize the plaintiffs in the situation, declined to converse with reporters subsequent Monday’s hearing.

Andrew Shirvell, a lobbyist who is executive director of Florida Voice for the Unborn, Inc., identified as Monday a “show listening to.”

“I consider it is now a foregone conclusion of how the judge is going to rule and that the legislation will not, sadly, go into influence on July 1,” Shirvell instructed reporters after the state cross-examined Tien.

This story was originally revealed June 27, 2022 7:55 PM.