The scene outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., after the court released its decision in the Dobbs abortion case, June 24, 2022. / Katie Yoder/CNAAfter the Supreme Court handed back control of abortion regulation to the states, judges in Louisiana, Utah, and Texas temporarily halted the enforcement of their respective states’ anti-abortion legislation.
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the court upheld a Mississippi law that prohibits most abortions after 15 weeks by a 6-3 majority. At the same time, Roe v. Wade was overturned by a 5-4 majority of the justices.
In response to a lawsuit brought by abortion providers, Orleans Parish Civil District Court Judge Robin Giarrusso temporarily blocked a 2006 Louisiana law that forbade abortions in the state in the event that Roe’s decision was overturned on June 27.
According to a report by Fox News regarding Louisiana, “abortion groups, represented by the Center for Reproductive Rights, contend that the abortion limits violate providers’ due process rights and “lack legally mandated protections to prevent arbitrary enforcement.”
Giarrusso will make a decision in the upcoming weeks regarding whether the law can be applied permanently. The date of the hearing is July 8.
According to the BBC, Louisiana’s Democratic governor, John Bel Edwards, even claimed to be “unashamedly pro-life and opposed to abortion,” but he is conscious that not everyone shares his views.
In response to a lawsuit filed by the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, Third District Judge Andrew Stone in Utah put a 14-day stay on the state’s trigger law on June 27.
According to NBC, Stone asserts that women are “denied access to safe, local medical methods to end pregnancies.”
In favor of the state’s trigger law, Utah State Senator Daniel McCay declared, “I’m sure that Utah’s abortion ban will be upheld, and we can strive to support life.”
On July 11, there will be a hearing on this subject.
A temporary restraining order was issued by Texas judge Christine Weems in Harris County on June 28 to prevent the implementation of an abortion ban from 1925.
According to Reuters, Marc Hearron, an attorney for the Texas abortion clinics in the lawsuit, said: “Every hour that abortion is accessible in Texas is a triumph.”
Abortion is still prohibited by state law starting roughly six weeks into a pregnancy.
A hearing for the Texas attorney general’s appeal of Weems’ ruling is set for July 12.
The state constitutions of various other states, which include rights to privacy, are the focus of challenges to abortion laws in those places. Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Washington are some of these.
According to Reuters, abortion providers are seeking to prevent the enforcement of trigger legislation in Kentucky, Idaho, and Mississippi.
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