Last week, a Florida Circuit Court put a temporary halt on the 15-week abortion ban, saying that it violates Florida’s constitution.
The decision was supposed to take effect this week, meaning that Florida’s 15-week abortion ban still took effect last Friday.
The state of Florida appealed the decision, and attorneys for the state are confident it will be fully reinstated during the appeals process.
On Tuesday, the abortion ban was reinstated just minutes after the final order was released to halt it.
In the state of Florida, when the state issues notice that they will be appealing a decision, a stay is automatically issued that will allow the law to take effect while it is being appealed in court.
Just minutes after Cooper’s decision was issued, the state’s attorneys issued a notice that they would appeal the decision to the 1st District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee.
The plaintiff’s attorney gave a statement in anticipation of the state’s appeal. She said that she would fight to reverse the automatic stay on the abortion law.
“Under Florida law, as soon as the state appeals the court’s injunction, that appeal will act as an automatic stay. Which means essentially that the appeal itself will pause the effect of the injunction and allow HB 5 to take effect again. If and when that happens, plaintiffs will file immediately to seek to lift that stay and to allow the injunction to go back into effect. We will move quickly and will continue fighting with every tool in our toolbox to ensure that we can vindicate and protect abortion rights in Florida,” Whitney White, an attorney for the Plaintiffs said.
Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried said that if she was Governor, she would have not appealed the decision and would have vetoed the abortion bill outright.
“Florida’s Constitution guarantees every Floridian the right to privacy and from radical government intrusion. The 15-week abortion ban is not only an affront on women, it defies our Constitution. If I were governor, I not only wouldn’t appeal this ruling because it is right, I would have vetoed the bill,” Fried, the state agriculture commissioner, said in a prepared statement.
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