Florida restores state abortion ban beyond 15 weeks after temporary halt

After a judge in Florida temporarily halted a state law banning abortions beyond 15 weeks of pregnancy, a state appeal restored the ban on Tuesday.

Judge John C Cooper of an appellate court in Florida’s capital of Tallahassee ruled that the ban in question – enshrined in a bill that Republican lawmakers approved in April – violates privacy protections in the state constitution.

Cooper’s decision temporarily halted the ban, though it had no effect on a ban prohibiting abortions beyond 24 weeks of pregnancy. But the state’s appeal automatically ensured a stay on the temporary blocking of the more restrictive measure, meaning that ban still applies as the case continues playing out.

“The Florida constitution does not include – and has never included – a right to kill an innocent unborn child,” said a spokesperson for Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, last week.

The move is the latest in a series of conflicting state court rulings after the federal supreme court’s recent decision to overturn its landmark Roe v Wade ruling, which since 1973 had granted nationwide abortion rights. Abortion is now banned in at least eight states, with more bans expected to follow in the coming weeks.