Louisiana's state court became the first in the nation to block a trigger law on Monday when abortion providers argued the bans were unlawfully vague. A hearing in the case is set for July 8.

Utah came next when its state court placed a temporary restraining order on its abortion ban. The ban, which took effect Friday, will not be enforced for 14 days as the case progresses, a state judge ruled Monday.

Texas is the third state where a judge has issued a temporary restraining order that blocks the state's pre-Roe abortion ban, which applies at least to the abortion facilities that filed the lawsuit. Abortions in Texas are already banned after approximately six weeks gestation, and in a few weeks, a separate trigger law will go into effect.

Lawsuits over trigger bans also have been filed in Kentucky, Idaho and Mississippi. The ban in Mississippi, where the Dobbs case overturned Roe and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, will soon take effect.

Wisconsin's attorney general filed a lawsuit on Tuesday taking issue with the state's pre-Roe law. The state's abortion ban has been in effect since 1849—for 173 years, yet Attorney General Josh Kaul is arguing that statutes passed in the 1980s supersede the ban. Wisconsin adopted an originalist law in 1985 that prohibits abortion after an infant is able to survive outside the womb.

In federal courts, judges in South Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee and Alabama have allowed state abortion bans to be reinstated. Tennessee's abortion law, which the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals let stand Tuesday, means that abortion is banned in the state as early as six weeks into pregnancy. The court's action comes before the state's trigger ban is set to go into effect in less than a month, stopping the practice of abortion in Tennessee almost entirely.

Florida recently enacted a 15-week abortion ban, which goes into effect on July 1. On Monday, Planned Parenthood and others requested a Florida judge block the 15-week ban (which includes exceptions but not in cases of rape, incest or human trafficking) from taking effect, arguing the state constitution guarantees access to abortion. Florida currently allows abortions up to 24 weeks. This challenge will present a mirror image to the Dobbs case as it is an opportunity to have the Florida Supreme Court reverse In re T.W., a terrible activist decision from 1989 that ruled Article I, Section 23 of the Florida Constitution provides a right to abortion. This could likely happen since Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed three new Justices to the Florida Supreme Court and a super majority of the Court are originalists, not judicial activists, in their judicial philosophy.

As of the start of June, nine states have pre-Roe abortion bans in place: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Thirteen have trigger laws: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Four have passed an amendment declaring their state constitution does not secure or protect a right to abortion or allow use of public funds: Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee and West Virginia. Kansas has a similar state constitutional amendment on the ballot later this year.

Liberty Counsel's Founder and Chairman Mat Staver said, "In light of the historic win overturning Roe v. Wade at the Supreme Court, the fight to protect human life will intensify. This is an historic opportunity which we have worked to achieve over many decades. Liberty Counsel will be engaged at all levels across the country to protect the sanctity of human life and end this terrible scourge of abortion."

Liberty Counsel provides broadcast quality TV interviews via Hi-Def Skype and LTN at no cost.

SOURCE Liberty Counsel

CONTACT: Mat Staver, 407-875-1776, Liberty@LC.org 

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