Abortion rights groups sue to stop Florida's 15-week ban

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A coalition of abortion rights groups on Wednesday filed a lawsuit in state court to block Florida’s new 15-week abortion ban, arguing the law threatens doctors with jail time and violates privacy rights that are enshrined in the state Constitution.

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on behalf of two regional Planned Parenthood offices and six abortion providers, was widely expected after the Republican-controlled Legislature approved the ban and GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it into law on April 14. The law, which provides no exemptions for victims of rape, incest and human trafficking, is set to go into effect on July 1.

"Absent an injunction, the Act will prevent Floridians from exercising their fundamental constitutional right to decide whether to have an abortion prior to viability, causing irreparable harm for which there is no adequate remedy at law," the lawsuit states.

Before the recent law was approved, Florida prohibited abortions at 24 weeks. More than 79,000 women received abortions in Florida last year. ACLU of Florida Legal Director Daniel Tilley wrote in a statement that the new law, known as HB 5, blocks women from essential abortion care.

"Not only does HB 5 defy the will of the people, it ignores the real life circumstances of people who need an abortion and deliberately puts them in harm’s way," Tilley said. "With the U.S. Supreme Court threatening to take away the federal right to abortion, we will do everything in our power to block this cruel attack on Floridians’ fundamental right to get the care they need.”

The defendants in the lawsuit include state Surgeon General Joseph A. Ladapo, state Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Simone Marstiller and top prosecutors from judicial circuits across the state. Ladapo's role and AHCA fall under the purview of the governor's office.

Bryan Griffin, a spokesperson for DeSantis, wrote in an email that the governor’s office is confident the 15-week ban law will ultimately withstand all legal challenges.

The new law is the strictest abortion law in state history and mirrors a ban in Mississippi that is at the center of a case, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, on which the Supreme Court is set to rule. The Supreme Court has indicated that it will likely overturn the 1973 landmark Roe v. Wade decision that protects abortion rights, according to an initial draft opinion first reported by POLITICO.

One of the plaintiffs in the case, Jacksonville abortion provider Shelly Tien, wrote in a statement that Florida’s 15-week abortion ban, which only allows for an exemption in extreme medical cases, fails to account for a much wider spectrum of illnesses where pregnancy could jeopardize a person's life.

"When it comes to pregnancy, birth, and parenting, patients and their families make the best decisions for themselves and their loved ones, consistent with their values and beliefs," Tien wrote. "Everyone should have the fundamental right to make these deeply personal decisions that profoundly impact the arc of their lives within the privacy of the physician-patient relationship.”

The abortion rights groups that filed the lawsuit in Leon County Circuit Court argue the state’s constitutional privacy right was expressly written to block government from intruding on private lives. And the 15-week prohibition goes too far. The complaint, which was filed just after noon, asks a judge to temporarily halt the ban from taking effect next month until a jury trial can take place.

The state Supreme Court cited the privacy amendment when it struck down a law more than three decades ago that required minors to get parental permission to get an abortion. But Florida’s Supreme Court now leans much more conservative — DeSantis has appointed three of the current justices — and there’s a fear among abortion rights providers that the high court could interpret the privacy right differently.

Ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision, Florida Republicans are considering several possibilities, including a complete ban on abortions. But incoming legislative leaders held back on voicing support for the total ban, instead saying the issue should be left for the 160-member Legislature to decide.

Andrew Shirvell, founder of the anti-abortion group Florida Voice for the Unborn, wrote in a news release that if the new law is upheld, the court precedent established by the state’s privacy right will be overturned.

“The pro-abortion lawsuit filed today will end-up back-firing on the Florida abortion industry because this case most likely will serve as the vehicle by which the Florida Supreme Court will overturn its misguided precedents that wrongly interpreted the state Constitution as guaranteeing Florida women the right to obtain an abortion independent of the federal Constitution,” wrote Shirvell.