Abortion waiting period reinstated
Court voids injunction, revives 24-hour delay
TALLAHASSEE — Most women seeking abortions in Florida will have to wait 24 hours and make at least two doctor visits, after an appellate court Friday reinstated a law that imposes the waiting period.
The 1st District Court of Ap- peal struck down a temporary injunction against the law issued by a Leon County trial court judge last year.
The law has exceptions for cases of rape, incest, domestic abuse or human trafficking, but victims must provide police reports or restraining orders to their doctors as proof of those circumstances.
“I’m absolutely ecstatic,” said state Rep. Jennifer Sullivan, R-Mount Dora, and sponsor of the law the Legislature approved last year. “I think the judges were really in disbelief by the lack of evidence produced by the clinic.”
A lawsuit challenging the law was brought by Gainesville Wom-
an Care and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, which claimed it was an undue intrusion into a woman’s right to privacy.
ACLU officials vowed to keep fighting the case.
“This ruling will harm women in Florida. A woman who has decided to have an abortion should be able to get one without the state putting up unnecessary roadblocks to prevent her from getting the care she needs,” said ACLU staff attorney Julia Kaye.
But Sullivan said the law was about giving women more time to make an informed decision before undergoing such a major procedure.
“I think this is really going to go a long way for women to be more comfortable with their doctor,” she said. “I think this is one step forward in women’s health.”
Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, a network of women’s health clinics that provide abortions, was dismayed by the ruling but said the clinics would abide by the law. Planned Parenthood opposed the bill last year.
“The state should support medically appropriate and scientifically based health-care policies, not legislation introduced with the intention of shaming, coercing or judging a woman,” Goodhue said in a released statement.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration is the designated enforcer of the 24-hour waiting period, but department officials didn’t shed much light on how they would do that.
“It will be the responsibility of the clinic to follow the law and maintain documentation,” AHCA spokeswoman Mallory McManus stated in an email.
Friday’s ruling is only the latest turn in an ongoing legal battle waged on several fronts between anti-abortion and pro-choice forces in Florida in recent months.
AHCA is involved in a separate case with three Planned Parenthood clinics in the state over abortions it contends were conducted after the first trimester in violation of state law.
The alleged violations were found after Gov. Rick Scott ordered that the group’s 16 clinics in Florida be investigated in light of a series of hidden camera videos showing Planned Parenthood executives discussing the sale of fetal tissue for research purposes.
The investigation, however, found no instances of the sale of fetal tissue at Planned Parenthood’s Florida clinics.
The videos set off a storm of protests by anti-abortion groups. Despite Scott’s investigation into Planned Parenthood, the Orlandobased Florida Family Policy Council has criticized him for not going further and banning all government funding for the group.