Case Updates: Florida appeals injunction against Florida's 15-week abortion law

[In It to Win It]

2. Update: State files to fast-track case to the state Supreme Court

https://archive.ph/00Bdd

TALLAHASSEE — Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office has requested that a battle about a new 15-week abortion law go quickly to the Florida Supreme Court — and indicated that the state will use a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Roe v. Wade to help defend the law.

The request filed late Tuesday was part of a flurry of legal activity after Leon Circuit Judge John Cooper issued a temporary injunction to block the law (HB 5), which prevents abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy without exceptions for rape and incest.

The state immediately filed a notice of appeal of Cooper’s ruling at the 1st District Court of Appeal. Later, it filed a document requesting that the case be fast-tracked to the Florida Supreme Court, effectively bypassing the appeals court.

“The circuit court has enjoined HB 5, which restricts the small fraction of abortions in Florida that occur after 15 weeks’ gestation and do not meet one of HB 5′s exceptions,” the document said. “The state’s appeal from that decision raises questions of exceptional public importance that warrant immediate resolution by the Florida Supreme Court. This (1st District) Court should so certify this appeal (to the Supreme Court) as soon as practicable.”

The filing also indicated that the state plans to use the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 ruling that struck down the 49-year-old Roe v. Wade abortion-rights decision to help defend the 15-week limit.