The Louisiana Supreme Court refused to overturn a lower court ruling preventing the state from enforcing its ban on abortion.
In a 4-2 ruling late Wednesday, the majority of justices said the court will decline to be involved “at this preliminary stage” in denying the state attorney general’s request to allow immediate enforcement of state laws against most abortions.
The decision allows a lower court ruling that blocked enforcement of the state’s “trigger law” to stand. A district court judge last week imposed a temporary stay on enforcement following a legal challenge from abortion providers in the state who argued the law was overly vague.
JUDGE TEMPORARILY BLOCKS LOUISIANA ABORTION TRIGGER LAWS
The lower court ruling will remain in place as abortion providers make their case in court on Friday.
“We look forward to the preliminary injunction hearing on Friday” in district court, said Joanna Wright, an attorney for the north Louisiana abortion clinic that filed the suit, among other providers.
Louisiana Supreme Court is delaying the inevitable. Our Legislature fulfilled their constitutional duties, and now the Judiciary must. It is disappointing that time is not immediate. #lagov #lalege
— AG Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry) July 6, 2022
Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican, wrote that the state Supreme Court is “delaying the inevitable” in a tweet responding to the court’s decision.
“Our Legislature fulfilled their constitutional duties, and now the Judiciary must. It is disappointing that time is not immediate,” Landry added. His July 1 filing argued that abortion proponents who filed the suit “are willfully misreading clear terms in the law in an attempt to manufacture arguments that the statutes are unconstitutionally vague.”
Justice Jefferson Hughes III said that Landry’s request to lift the hold is premature, according to a concurring opinion. Hughes argued the case should go through the district and appellate courts before coming to the state Supreme Court.
Joining Hughes in the majority were Justices Scott Crichton, Piper Griffin, and James Genovese. Justices William Crain and Jay McCallum disagreed with Hughes, while Chief Justice John Weimer stepped aside from a vote on the case.
“While whether these doctors will suffer irreparable harm by being prohibited from performing abortions is debatable, terminating alleged life during the period of the temporary restraining order is irreparable,” Crain wrote.
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Following the Supreme Court‘s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization last month, which allowed states to impose laws severely limiting or restricting abortion procedures, Louisiana was the first state to have its abortion ban challenged. Similar temporary halts have occurred in Arizona, Kentucky, and Utah,
Kentucky’s Supreme Court also denied a request Wednesday by state Attorney General Daniel Cameron to reinstate a state abortion law after a judge temporarily halted its enforcement.
