Louisiana’s three abortion clinics were forced to stop providing abortions Friday, after a New Orleans judge ruled that a challenge to Louisiana’s abortion laws needs to play out in Baton Rouge, bringing the state’s strict ban back into effect.
The decision, by Orleans Parish Civil District Judge Ethel Simms Julien, was the latest blow to abortion-rights advocates in Louisiana, who have sought to delay what is likely the inevitable end to legal abortions in the state. The court case is among a mountain of legal challenges being heard across the country since the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 overturned a half-century of legal precedent that guaranteed a right to abortions.
Julien agreed with abortion providers that there are “inconsistencies” in the state law banning the procedure and establishing up to 15-year prison terms for doctors who perform abortions. But she said the case belongs in the courts in East Baton Rouge Parish, which typically hears challenges to state laws and statewide elected officials. She ordered it moved there.
A Shreveport abortion clinic and a nonprofit group of medical students with New Orleans chapters brought the suit, and will now try “as soon as possible” to persuade a Baton Rouge judge to block the law from taking effect, the Center for Reproductive Rights said.
A different New Orleans judge, Robin Giarrusso, had blocked Louisiana’s “trigger law” three days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but that injunction was dissolved Friday. That ruling had allowed abortions to continue in Louisiana for the past week.
Attorney General Jeff Landry, a vehemently anti-abortion Republican who is expected to run for governor next year, was in court Friday, though he left the lawyering to his legal team. After the ruling, Landry accused the plaintiffs of “venue shopping” and took a shot at the state Supreme Court, which declined to take up the case this week.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry speaks to the media at Civil District Court after a judge heard arguments over whether the state’s trigger ban is too flawed to take effect in New Orleans, La. Friday, July 8, 2022. (Photo by Max Becherer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
He also took a shot at those fighting to preserve access to abortion. “If you don’t like the laws of the state, you can move to one which you like,” Landry said.
The plaintiffs said they’ll continue their fight. They noted that the substance of the case has yet to be heard. Several dozen abortion rights supporters protested outside the courthouse Friday, holding signs that slammed Landry and Gov. John Bel Edwards, an anti-abortion Democrat, and said “do you want women to die?”
“This was a decision on a technicality that had nothing to do with the merits of our case, which were not discussed or considered by the parties or the court today,” said Joanna Wright, a partner at New York-based Boies Schiller Flexner, among the lawyers representing the plaintiffs. “This fight is far from over. We are looking forward to litigating the constitutionality of the trigger bans before the court in Baton Rouge.”
The law in question prohibits abortion in nearly all circumstances, unless the mother’s life is at risk or the pregnancy is “medically futile.” There are no exceptions for victims of rape and incest.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry speaks to the media in New Orleans, La. Friday, July 8, 2022. (Photo by Max Becherer, The Times-Picayune)
If doctors run afoul of the law, which was updated by state lawmakers this spring, they can be jailed for a decade or longer. The narrow exceptions have raised concerns among some doctors, and a dozen physicians filed statements in court warning that the law may put women at risk in a state where maternal mortality is already high.
Julien’s decision halted abortion services at the state’s three clinics, though they are expected to resume if a Baton Rouge judge grants a restraining order blocking the law again.
The abortion clinics in Baton Rouge and New Orleans had provided abortions on Tuesday and Thursday of this week, said Amy Irvin, a spokesperson for the clinics. But she said the clinic hadn’t taken appointments for counseling sessions, which those seeking abortions must undergo first, so no abortions were scheduled for the coming days. She said no new appointments will be made unless a new judge blocks the law.
The Hope Medical Group for Women, the Shreveport abortion clinic suing Landry, canceled about 40 appointments for abortions scheduled for Saturday, said Kathaleen Pittman, administrator for the clinic.
“In the meantime, we will be seeing patients for ultrasounds and options counseling,” Pittman said. “It is important to us to assist these women in any way we can as they navigate these horrible barriers.”
New Orleans police issued a statement late Friday saying they will not issues summonses or make arrests in cases where someone is accused of violating the state's new abortion laws unless there were "extenuating circumstances." It wasn't immediately clear what impact, if any, that policy might have.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry speaks to the media at Civil District Court after a judge heard arguments over whether the stateÕs trigger ban is too flawed to take effect in New Orleans, La. Friday, July 8, 2022. (Photo by Max Becherer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Regardless of how the next chapter plays out, the legal saga is expected to continue until the Louisiana Supreme Court makes a final ruling on the case. The state’s high court is composed of five Republicans, one Democrat and one no-party justice, John Weimer, who recused himself from an initial decision in the case because of a separate legal beef with Landry.
But it is widely agreed that legal abortions will soon go away in Louisiana. If the current law is deemed unconstitutional, the Legislature, which is stacked with anti-abortion lawmakers in both parties, could call a special session or wait until the spring to pass a new law banning abortions.
Staff writer Emily Woodruff contributed to this story
The actions are intended to mitigate some potential penalties women may face but are limited in their ability to safeguard access to abortion nationwide.
Long before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, lawmakers and advocates had focused on Louisiana’s refusal to exempt pregnancies res…
Last week, when abortion clinics in Louisiana reopened during what is likely a temporary reprieve from the state’s abortion ban, women rushed …
