New Orleans, LA- Today a federal
court issued a temporary order that prevents the state of Louisiana from
enforcing a new ban on certain abortions. Abortion providers sought to
block implementation of the law, charging that the state has violated the
Constitution and Supreme Court precedent by legislating its own definition
of viability and impermissibly restricting abortion starting at 22 weeks
of pregnancy.
Without holding a hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Sarah S. Vance
issued a judgment finding that the providers had shown a probability of
success on the merits of the case. Under the temporary restraining order,
the new ban on abortions cannot be enforced at least until a hearing is
held on abortion providers' motion for a preliminary injunction, which
would block the law until the court reaches a final decision on the
constitutionality of the law.
"Louisiana operates as a lawless state when it comes to abortion. By
enacting the abortion ban, the Louisiana legislature and Governor Foster
have proved their contempt for the Constitution, legal precedent, and
women's rights," said Priscilla Smith, Deputy Director of Litigation
for the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy (CRLP), a legal advocacy
organization that represents five clinics and two physicians challenging
the law.
The Louisiana abortion restriction is unconstitutional because it
violates Supreme Court precedent governing women's right to choose
abortion. The Court has repeatedly found that only physicians, not
legislators, can make the determination of viability, the time at which a
fetus can survive outside the womb. Medical practicioners generally agree
that viability begins somewhere between 24-28 weeks of pregnancy, at least
two weeks later than the Louisiana statute decrees. The law also
eradicates legal protections for post-viability abortions necessary to
preserve the life and health of the woman, in direct violation of Roe
v. Wade.
Even abortions that meet the law's narrow "medical necessity"
exceptions would be unavailable, due to the requirement that all abortions
starting at 22 weeks of pregnancy must be performed in a hospital, not an
abortion clinic or doctor's office. This is impossible in Louisiana, given
that abortions are not offered by any hospital in the state. "Don't
forget that Louisiana is the state where a woman was denied a hospital
abortion because she didn't have a greater than 50 percent chance of dying
from her pregnancy," said Smith, referring to one of the seven cases
CRLP is litigating against Louisiana laws and policies. Representing
Michele Lee, CRLP is challenging Louisiana State University Medical
Center's discriminatory abortion policy that denies abortions to disabled
individuals who arrive at a hospital for life-saving treatment.
The abortion ban took immediate effect when Governor Mike Foster signed
it into law late in the afternoon of Friday, July 9, 1999. Attorneys for
abortion providers filed a challenge to the law when the courts opened on
Monday morning, July 12th.
