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Editorial: Court right to keep abortion waiting period on hold

 
Published Feb. 17, 2017

The Florida Supreme Court has correctly recognized the state's mandatory 24-hour wait for abortions as an infringement on a woman's constitutional right to privacy. In upholding an injunction preventing the 2015 law from taking effect, the court is keeping government out of women's health care decisions.

The law requires women to make at least two visits to a doctor and then wait at least 24 hours before having an abortion. It passed along party lines, with Republicans arguing that it gives women more time to consider their decision. Actually, it just makes it harder for them to access a legal procedure.

The American Civil Liberties Union argued the law creates a hardship for women and violates the privacy clause of the Florida Constitution, which says "every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person's private life." The words are crystal clear, and there should be no argument that a woman's pregnancy falls under the heading of "private life."

Yet Republicans in Tallahassee never stop trying to intrude. A new House bill that passed its first subcommittee vote would allow women to sue their doctor for injury or emotional distress up to 10 years after having an abortion. It would make it harder for doctors to obtain malpractice insurance, thus making it harder for women to obtain abortions, which is the real objective.

The 24-hour waiting period is still likely to face court scrutiny over its constitutionality. But for now, the Supreme Court's action to keep the law on hold is a victory.