Florida judge blocks law forcing women to wait 24 hours for abortion

A Florida judge is blocking a new state law that requires women to wait 24 hours before getting an abortion.

Chief circuit judge Charles Francis on Tuesday blocked the law one day before it was scheduled to take effect.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the Center for Reproductive Rights sued after the Republican governor, Rick Scott, signed it into law. They argued that the law violates the right to privacy guaranteed in the state constitution by interfering with the right of women to undergo the procedure.

"We are very pleased that the court saw this law for what it is: an unconstitutional attack on the right of Florida women to make their own choices about their healthcare, including abortion," the ACLU of Florida legal director, Nancy Abudu, said in a written statement.

Florida was scheduled to become the 27th state to have a mandatory waiting period and backers of the measure had predicted the law would withstand a legal challenge.

Abortion was the subject of emotional debate during the legislature’s regular session that ended on 1 May. Democrats complained the bill was simply an effort to put up roadblocks to restrict women’s rights to an abortion while Republicans said women should have to wait before making such a major decision.

But in his ruling Francis wrote that state officials had given no evidence to show why the new law is not a burden on privacy rights. He said it did not matter that other states have similar laws since Florida’s right of privacy is broader.

By Associated Press

Source: The Guardian

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