Live Updates: Louisiana Judge Blocks Trigger Law Amid Flurry of Legal Action in States

The Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade touched off furious arguments over state constitutional rights and the legality of various bans. Abortion clinics in Louisiana were granted a temporary reprieve.

Abortion rights groups take up the fight in the states. SACRAMENTO — A weekend of furious protest and religious celebration shifted on Monday to a pitched legal and legislative battle as fallout from the Supreme Court’s reversal of a constitutional right to abortion shifted to the states. In Florida, a judge weighed a request from health care providers to temporarily block the state’s new ban on abortions after 15 weeks, with some exceptions, that is set to take effect Friday. In California, state lawmakers were expected Monday to put a state constitutional amendment on the ballot to explicitly protect abortion rights. In Utah, the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah sued over the weekend to block a ban that went into effect shortly after the Supreme Court issued its decision, arguing that the new law violates the state constitution. The ban, which prohibits abortions except in cases of rape or to prevent a mother’s death, punishes violators with up to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. In Louisiana, a judge temporarily halted implementation of a similar “trigger law” there today after abortion clinics and civil rights lawyers sued. In Ohio, where the governor has issued an executive order effectively banning abortion at six weeks, the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood of Ohio said they plan to use a similar state constitutional argument in filing suit this week to block the implementation of abortion bans there. The push by abortion rights advocates to buy time and delay the implementation of bans came as roughly half of U.S. states moved to outlaw the procedure in most or all cases. Thirteen states have adopted “trigger bans” designed to take effect quickly after the Supreme Court decision, and others have had un-enforced anti-abortion laws on the books for years that conservative lawmakers have revived. A judge in Louisiana on Monday temporarily blocked enforcement of the state’s abortion “trigger laws,” which could allow abortion clinics to continue providing services for now. Louisiana is one of 13 states where the legislature had previously enacted laws designed to curtail abortions, in anticipation of Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. The state’s three operating abortion clinics filed a petition seeking emergency relief, and received a temporary restraining order from Judge Robin M. Giarrusso of the Orleans Parish Civil District Court. Judge Giarrusso set a hearing in the case for July 8. It was unclear on Monday whether abortion providers would continue operating while the case was pending. Abortion care providers in states with trigger laws, like Louisiana, have said they are uncertain whether they could face immediate consequences for providing care to those seeking an abortion. Some prosecutors have suggested they would not file charges under trigger laws, including Jason Williams, the New Orleans district attorney, who said on Friday that his office would not prosecute patients or physicians. Abortion providers in Louisiana argued that the state’s trigger laws violate the state’s constitution and “are void for vagueness” because it is unclear if they would take immediate effect after the Supreme Court’s ruling, and they do not provide enough specifics about banned actions — such as what exceptions exist for medical workers trying to save a pregnant woman’s life. Joanna Wright, one of the lead lawyers on the case, said that abortion clinics have been unable to provide services since the Supreme Court ruling because they cannot risk criminal prosecution, which could include mandatory jail time. “That puts care providers in this impossible position of having to turn away women who possibly need abortion care to save their life in order to avoid going to jail,” she said in an interview on Monday. A trigger law in Louisiana has been on the books since 2006, banning anyone from performing an abortion or providing a woman with drugs to interrupt a pregnancy. The law would allow exceptions to prevent serious injury or death to a pregnant woman, but not for rape or incest. Another law was signed by the governor this month in anticipation of the Supreme Court decision.