The Advocate reported Tuesday afternoon that Louisiana’s near-total ban on abortions is — once again — on hold after 19th Judicial District Judge Don Johnson issued a temporary restraining order blocking the law from being enforced until a hearing takes place, which is scheduled for July 18 in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Louisiana’s law, which bans most abortions and had taken effect immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade because of the state’s trigger laws, has been at the center of a legal fight: Attorney General Jeff Landry and the Louisiana Department of Health were the named defendants, and the plaintiff was the Hope Medical Group for Women, an abortion clinic in Shreveport.
First, a judge in New Orleans ordered a temporary restraining order blocking the ban from going into effect after the Shreveport abortion clinic sued the state.
But on Friday, that restraining order was lifted, meaning the ban on nearly all abortions was back on. Staff at all three abortion clinics in the state — one each in Shreveport, New Orleans and Baton Rouge — told WWNO that they stopped providing the procedure Friday.
But sources at abortion clinics said Tuesday they are monitoring Judge Johnson’s order and are hoping to re-open.
This is a developing story.
