Today we filed suit to stop Florida’s new mandatory 24-hour waiting period to receive an abortion. Governor Scott signed the bill last night and we filed our complaint first thing this morning. You had our back during the legislative session and contacted your elected officials; now we’ve got yours in the courts.
Our clients are Gainesville Woman Care and Medical Students for Choice and they assert that this new law violates Florida’s constitutional right to privacy and equal protection. We warned the legislature that the abortion delay was unconstitutional, but they passed the law anyway under the theory that women needed a little more time to think about the abortion they’d already decided to have. Read the complaint here.
The new law would force women to make two trips to a medical facility at least 24 hours apart before they can have an abortion, which is medically unnecessary and could in fact endanger a woman’s health.
The law even lacks traditional exceptions for rape, incest or emergencies often found in abortion restrictions. These hurdles only serve to delay abortions, drive up costs, and inflict psychological and emotional trauma. But that’s the point – the politicians who passed the law hope women will be discouraged from having the procedure all together. That’s why even modest amendments that would have protected victims, eased travel requirements and more were summarily rejected by legislators in Tallahassee this past session.
The statute is scheduled to go into effect on July 1 and our suit seeks a temporary and permanent injunction to prevent the law from ever going into effect.
Show your support for Florida women and our lawsuit challenging the 24 hour waiting period.