Abortion fights break out in court, Florida Legislature

TALLAHASSEE — Abortion battles are playing out across state government.

After an appeals court ruling Friday, the American Civil Liberties Union quickly asked the Florida Supreme Court to reinstate an injunction against a 2015 law that requires 24-hour waiting periods before women can have abortions.

In the Legislature, a Senate panel on Monday approved a sweeping bill that would place new restrictions on abortion clinics, including some restrictions that clinics say could put them out of business.

And on Tuesday, an administrative law judge will hear a case involving a move by Gov. Rick Scott’s administration to sanction a Gainesville clinic. The Agency for Health Care Administration last summer alleged that the clinic and four others performed second-trimester abortions without proper licenses.

The clinics said the agency changed the definition of “first trimester” in seeking the sanctions.

The 1st District Court of Appeal’s decision Friday lifted an injunction issued last summer by a Leon County circuit judge against the 24-hour waiting period law.

The appeals court decision went into effect immediately, forcing women slated to get abortions Friday to reschedule.

“Most of them were in tears,” Kristin Davy, owner of Bread and Roses Women’s Health Center in Gainesville, said in an affidavit that accompanied the ACLU ap- peal filed late Friday.

“It is only because our doctor, who normally sees patients Wednesday and Friday, was eventually able to rearrange her life in order to return to the clinic tomorrow that most of these women will get care in a timely manner — and even then, they and their families still experienced significant turmoil,” Davy said.

In its appeal, the ACLU set out to show harm that could result from requiring a second trip to the abortion clinic for women who have to wait 24 hours.