Abortion providers and advocates sue Florida over state’s ‘dangerous’ 15-week ban

Legal battle for abortion rights heads to state court as US Supreme Court weighs imminent decision on Roe v Wade

Abortion providers and abortion rights advocates in Florida have filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the state’s ban on abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy, arguing that the law – which threatens to jail doctors and makes no exceptions for rape or incest – violates the state constitution’s privacy protections.

The state constitutional challenge comes as Americans wait for a decision from the US Supreme Court in a case involving a similar Mississippi law following a leaked draft opinion to overturn abortion protections from Roe v Wade.

A group of civil rights and reproductive health groups in Florida filed the lawsuit on behalf of Planned Parenthood organisations and clinics in the state.

The lawsuit argues that House Bill 5 – which Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law in April – violates a state constitutional provision guaranteeing a right to privacy, “including the right to abortion”.

The law follows a wave of anti-abortion legislation from Republican legislators, emboldened by the Supreme Court’s likely decision to end federal protections for abortion care, and the court’s refusal to intervene in a Texas challenge to that state’s law banning abortion at six weeks, before many women know they are pregnant.

Under current law, abortion patients in Florida can seek care up to 24 weeks of pregnancy, the standard established under Roe. Should the new law got into effect on 1 July, it will “prevent Floridians from exercising their fundamental constitutional right to decide whether to have an abortion prior to viability, causing irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law,” according to the lawsuit.

The state already bans insurance plans through the state’s Affordable Care Act exchange from covering abortion care, and patients must also receive state-directed counseling and wait 24 hours before a procedure, requiring at least two trips to a provider, among other restrictions.

Daniel Tilley, legal director of the ACLU of Florida, told reporters on Wednesday that the law is both a “dangerous attack on essential healthcare” and also state constitutional protections.

“These anti-abortion laws … ignore the real-life circumstances of people who need an abortion and deliberately put them in harm’s way,” he said.

A statement from Governor DeSantis’s office said the governor is “confident” that the law will survive legal challenges.

Over the last three decades, Florida courts have interpreted a constitutional provision regarding privacy – which was supported by voters in a referendum – includes abortion rights.

In 1989, the state Supreme Court overturned a law that required minors to obtain parental consent for an abortion, relying on state constitutional support for “the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into [one’s] private life.”

“Despite Florida’s history of protecting the right to abortion, the Florida legislature recently engaged in a brazen attempt to override the will of the Florida people,” according to the lawsuit.

Dr Shelly Tien, an abortion care provider with Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida, performs an ultrasound in Jacksonville. (REUTERS)

Stephanie Loraine, co-executive director of abortion rights group Florida Access Network, said the law would force Florida patients to travel as far as North Carolina to access legal care, an “unrealistic” and “incredibly cruel” scenario for patients who will be forced not only to navigate a fragile network of care but also take time off work, find childcare, pay for fuel and “rearrange their lives” for their healthcare.

Dr Shelly Tien, an abortion care provider with Planned Parenthood of South, East and North Florida, said in a statement that “patients and their families make the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones, consistent with their values and beliefs” regarding pregnancy, birth and parenting decisions.

“Patients may need abortion care after 15 weeks for many reasons, whether it be related to a health condition that develops as the pregnancy progresses, or delays to care directly related to inequitable access to medical care, which is especially pronounced for women and girls living in poverty,” she said, warning that restricting such care will result in “forced pregnancies, forced childbirth, and for some, forced parenting.”

“I trust my parents to make these decisions for themselves. Abortion bans … are a direct assault on autonomy,” Dr Samantha Deans, associate medical director of southeast and north Planned Parenthood, told reporters.

The lawsuit requests an emergency temporary injunction to block the law before its effective date.