A Louisiana appeals court has ruled that the state’s abortion ban can take effect and save babies from abortions while a pro-abortion lawsuit against it continues in court.
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry wants to make sure women and unborn babies are protected from abortions. So he filed an appeal today of a judge’s decision blocking enforcement of the state’s abortion ban.
The state appeals court ruled in favor of his request, meaning there are now 13 states with either an abortion ban or heartbeat law in place that currently bans abortions.
Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin have abortion bans currently in place while Georgia, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee have heartbeat laws in place protecting babies from abortions starting at 6 weeks.
As local news reported Sam Karlin reported on Twitter: “An appeals court has ruled that the state must be granted a suspensive appeal as the legal challenge to Louisiana’s abortion ban plays out. This means the ban will go back into effect, a blow to abortion advocates. (The state Supreme Court could rule otherwise).”
REACH PRO-LIFE PEOPLE WORLDWIDE! Advertise with LifeNews to reach hundreds of thousands of pro-life readers every week. Contact us today.
Breaking: An appeals court has ruled that the state must be granted a suspensive appeal as the legal challenge to Louisiana’s abortion ban plays out. This means the ban will go back into effect, a blow to abortion advocates. (The state Supreme Court could rule otherwise) pic.twitter.com/kqjFLZ61zo
— Sam Karlin (@samkarlin) July 29, 2022
Louisiana has a trigger law that went into effect following the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, but as LifeNews reported, the Louisiana Supreme Court 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.
Previously, state Supreme Court 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.
State District Judge Don Johnson ruled that the trigger law is supposedly too vague for ordinary citizens and abortionists to understand. Today, Landry appealed that decision.
Landry filed an appeal Friday morning and is also requesting an expedited consideration to stop Louisiana’s three abortion business from killing more babies while the legal battle plays out. Landry has predicted the case will eventually make its way to the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Please follow LifeNews.com on Gab for the latest pro-life news and info, free from social media censorship.
Previously, attorney John Balhoff, who works for the attorney general, dismissed arguments that the law is unclear, saying the trigger law “goes to extraordinary lengths to define the terms.” Balhoff said the law gives doctors the bandwidth to make decisions using “reasonable medical judgment.”
Executive Director of Louisiana Right to Life Benjamin Clapper said the following about Judge Johnson’s decision: “It is an insult to the citizens of Louisiana and our legislators that Judge Johnson enjoined our pro-life laws protecting babies from abortion. The overwhelming majority of the Shreveport abortion facility’s business is performing elective abortion on healthy babies and moms. Louisiana law has been clear for decades that these abortions should be stopped on the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Louisiana law also been clear that doctors can in accord with reasonable medical practices help women facing medical emergencies.”
Clapper concluded, “We call upon the Louisiana Supreme Court to promptly intervene and set the record straight that our laws are clear and enforceable.”
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.”
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.
Every state that has a law banning abortions allows treatment for miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies.
