The Louisiana Supreme Court has temporarily blocked an abortion ban from saving babies and adding the state to the list of those already protecting unborn children. Louisiana was one of 13 states to immediately ban abortions following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
The justices left in place a temporarily restraining order a lower court put in place against the abortion ban on a 4-2 vote and said lower courts should resolve the issues first before it weighs in on whether the abortion ban in constitutional per the state constitution.
Associate Justices Scott J. Crichton (Second District), Jefferson D. Hughes III (Fifth District), James T. Genovese (Third District), and Piper D. Griffin (Seventh District) were in the majority on the ruling declining to get involved “at this preliminary stage.”
“This application is procedurally premature,” Hughes wrote in his concurring opinion. “Applicant should first seek relief in the trial court and court of appeal. This application does not reach the merits.”
The dissenting justices said there is no reason to delay the ban and noted that babies will be killed in abortions in the meantime.
Associate Justices William J. Crain (First District) and Jay B. McCallum (Fourth District) said they would have granted the stay, arguing there is reason to review whether the TRO was appropriate to grant.
McCallum wrote that plaintiffs hadn’t shown that enforcing the laws before the case could be heard would cause “immediate irreparable injury,” so the hold should be dissolved.
“The plaintiffs have asserted that they, as doctors, will suffer irreparable harm if the ‘triggering’ statutes that prohibit abortions go into effect,” Crain wrote. “The contrasting interest is that alleged life will be terminated if the prohibitory statutes do not go into effect. While whether these doctors will suffer irreparable harm by being prohibited from performing abortions is debatable, terminating alleged life during the period of the temporary restraining order is irreparable.”
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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry was disappointed by the news and said on Twitter that the decision is only delaying the inevitable enforcement of the ban.
“The Louisiana Supreme Court is delaying the inevitable. Our Legislature fulfilled their constitutional duties, and now the judiciary must. It is disappointing that time is not immediate,” Landry said.
Ben Clapper of Louisiana Right to Life was also chagrined by the news and told LifeNews that he is particularly disappointed with the Chief Justice, who recused himself from the decision because of an unrelated legal issue with the AG.
“For decades, its has been the unambiguous position of Louisiana citizens and our legislators to protect babies from abortion. Now, Roe v. Wade has been emphatically overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, providing clear authority to Louisiana to enforce its pro-life law. It is the responsibility and within the legal authority of the Louisiana Supreme Court to uphold our laws from empty legal challenges.
The Louisiana Supreme Court let Louisiana citizens down by not decisively defending our laws from pro-abortion delay tactics. Echoing Justice Crain’s compelling words, every day this temporary restraining order remains in place leads to more babies lost from abortion.
We are also disappointed in Chief Justice Weimer’s recusal. This matter is too important for the Chief Justice to sit on the sidelines over a separate political matter between him and the Attorney General.
While these delays are a disgrace to our citizens, our legislators, and babies waiting to be born, we still remain confident that our pro-life laws will be upheld in time.”
A hearing is scheduled Friday in the lower court that could dissolve the TRO.
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, with a 6-3 majority ruling in the Dobbs case that “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The high court also ruled 6-3 uphold the Mississippi 15-week abortion ban so states can further limit abortions and to get rid of the false viability standard.
Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the judgment but, in his concurring opinion, disagreed with the reasoning and said he wanted to keep abortions legal but with a new standard.
Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was overturned and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state protecting babies from abortions and Kentucky became the 4th and Louisiana became the 5th and Ohio became the 6th and Utah became the 7th and Oklahoma became the 8th and Alabama became the 9th. This week, Mississippi became the 10th and South Carolina became the 11th,Texas became the 12th with its pre-Roe law and Tennessee became the 13th.
Michigan, Wisconsin and West Virginia have old pro-life laws on the books but there is question about whether they are applicable and will be enforced.
Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or quickly ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The 13 total states with trigger laws that would effectively ban all or most abortions are: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
“Abortion presents a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have enflamed debate and deepened division.”
This is a landmark day for the Pro-Life movement and our entire nation. After staining the moral fabric of our country for nearly 50 years, Roe v. Wade is no more.
Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer authored a joint dissent condemning the decision as enabling states to enact “draconian” restrictions on women.
Polls show Americans are pro-life on abortion and a new national poll shows 75% of Americans essentially agree with the Supreme Court overturning Roe.
