A Florida judge vowed Thursday to stop the state’s 15-week abortion ban from going into effect after a set of pro-abortion organizations sued the state on the grounds that the law violates the right to privacy enshrined in the state Constitution.
The law is set to go into effect Friday. Judge John C. Cooper, speaking from the bench, said he would sign a temporary injunction soon, but “not today.”
“Florida passed into its constitution an explicit right of privacy that is not contained in the U.S. Constitution. The Florida Supreme Court has determined in its words ‘Florida’s privacy provision is clearly implicated in a woman’s decision on whether or not to continue her pregnancy,'” Cooper said.
It is currently legal to have an abortion up to 24 weeks in Florida.
The law was passed by Florida’s majority-Republican statehouse and was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis in April. It would outlaw abortions after 15 weeks with exceptions, including if the mother is at risk of death or serious injury, or if the fetus has a “fatal fetal abnormality” that would result in death shortly after birth.
The law did not make an exception for pregnancies caused by rape or incest.
Cooper sided with Planned Parenthood of America, the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union, who challenged the law, claiming that it went against the right to privacy provided in the state’s constitution.
DeSantis’s office vowed to appeal the decision in a statement.
“The Florida Supreme Court previously misinterpreted Florida’s right to privacy as including a right to an abortion. We reject this interpretation because the Florida Constitution does not include–and has never included–a right to kill an innocent unborn child,” the statement read. “We will appeal today’s ruling and ask the Florida Supreme Court to reverse its existing precedent regarding Florida’s right to privacy. The struggle for life is not over.”
Cooper’s decision comes less than a week after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending the federal right to abortion and leaving the restrictions up to the states.
President Joe Biden decried the Supreme Court’s ruling on the world stage Thursday, saying the overturning of Roe was “outrageous” and arguing that it presents a danger to other issues related to “privacy.” He also called for the federal right to abortion to be codified, and insisted on Congress making an exception to the filibuster to pass such legislation.