Abortion wait law sent back to judge

Split appeals court overturns decision to toss out 24-hour rule

TALLAHASSEE — In a victory for Republican state leaders and abortion opponents, a split appeals court Thursday overturned a circuit judge’s decision that tossed out a 2015 law requiring women to wait 24 hours before having abortions.

The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal sends the case back to Leon County circuit court. The 24-hour waiting period case could eventually become a key test for the Florida Supreme Court, which has historically backed abortion rights but is now dominated by conservative justices.

Appeals court Judge Timothy Osterhaus, in a majority opinion Thursday joined by Judge Harvey Jay, pointed to state arguments that a 24-hour waiting period is needed to ensure “informed consent” by women before abortions are provided.

The state’s “evidence supporting the 24-hour law raises genuine issues of material fact,” Osterhaus wrote.

“Rather than singling out and burdening abortion procedures with arbitrary requirements, the state’s evidence indicates that the 24-hour law brings abortion procedures in Florida into compliance with medical informed consent standards and tangibly improves health outcomes for women,” Osterhaus wrote.

Leon Circuit Judge Terry Lewis, who has since retired from the bench, ruled in January 2018 that the waiting period law was unconstitutional.

Lewis sided with abortionrights supporters, who argued the law violated privacy rights and would place roadblocks in the way of women seeking abortions.

Lewis wrote the state failed to show there was a “compelling state interest” for the 24-hour waiting period and didn’t show that it was enacted in the “least restrictive manner.”

Lewis issued a summary judgment without holding a full trial. The Supreme Court in 2017 had issued a temporary injunction blocking the waiting period law from taking effect.

Plaintiffs in the legal challenge, filed on behalf of a Gainesville abortion clinic and a group of medical students, could appeal Thursday’s ruling to the Florida Supreme Court, ask the appellate court for a full-court rehearing, or agree to have a Tallahassee judge reconsider the lawsuit.

But, siding with Lewis in a dissent from Thursday’s majority ruling, Judge James Wolf wrote that the state failed to demonstrate the need for the waiting

period.

“There is simply no evidence supporting the concept that information regarding abortion is more complex and needs more time to be understood versus other complex medical procedures,” he wrote.

The case could become a barometer for abortion-related legal issues in Florida, particularly after changes early this year on the Florida Supreme Court.

Three supporters of abortion rights — justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince — left the bench because of a mandatory retirement age. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed three replacements, Barbara Lagoa, Robert Luck and Carlos Muniz, who created a solid conservative majority on the court.