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TALLAHASSEE, Florida (LifeSiteNews) — A Florida judge refused to halt enforcement of the state’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation, allowing the pro-life law to remain in effect while abortionists wage a legal battle to overturn it.
Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper had issued a statewide temporary injunction against House Bill 5, or the “Mortality Reduction Act,” which outlaws the killing of most unborn babies determined to have been conceived at least 15 weeks prior. The move came after abortionists filed a lawsuit challenging the pro-life law, arguing it violated Florida’s state constitution.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis immediately appealed the ruling, resulting in a stay of the injunction that allowed the pro-life law to temporarily take effect.
READ: DeSantis vows appeal after judge blocks Florida’s 15-week abortion ban
Abortionists fought back, filing an emergency motion requesting that Judge Cooper vacate the stay.
In a win for the 15-week ban, however, Cooper shot down the request, pointing out that there is a “very high burden” for vacating stays amid pending appeals, CBS News noted.
The 15-week restriction will remain in effect at least until the 1st District Court of Appeal – or possibly the Florida Supreme Court – rules on the state’s appeal. https://t.co/8lGrPwdwsQ
— CBS4 Miami (@CBSMiami) July 13, 2022
Cooper had previously signaled his ideological agreement with the abortionists by arguing that Florida’s pro-life law “violates the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution.”
However, he wrote this week that “courts are obliged to follow binding precedent even if they might wish to decide the case differently,” CBS reported.
The judge also observed that only “under the most compelling circumstances” can automatic stays like those initiated by the state’s appeal be vacated.
The original lawsuit by Florida abortion clinics and a physician was filed June 1 and contended that the Sunshine State’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks’ gestation violated the right to privacy in Florida’s state constitution.
DeSantis has defended his state’s abortion restriction, arguing that “dismemberment abortions” are not covered under a “proper interpretation” of Florida’s constitution.
The Florida governor, who has earned the broad approval of many conservatives for fighting liberty-crushing COVID-19 measures, limiting abortion, eradicating leftist racial and sexual ideologies from the classroom, and opposing the radical transgender chemical and genital mutilation of children, this week earned the backing of a major pro-life organization.
On Tuesday, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America (SBA) President Marjorie Dannenfelser issued a statement endorsing DeSantis as “a fearless advocate for the unborn and their mothers and for the will of Floridians.”
Lives are being saved today thanks to @RonDeSantisFL’s leadership on life & we are proud to endorse him for re-election! We are grateful for his unflinching commitment to moms & babies & look forward to his victory #FLgov #FLpol https://t.co/65pAMzlHYT pic.twitter.com/yfYMpfvCn3
— SBA Pro-Life America LifeSavingLaws.com (@sbaprolife) July 12, 2022
“Gov. DeSantis is right: science shows unborn children are human like us and feel excruciating pain in brutal late abortions,” Dannenfelser wrote in the statement.
“Lives are being saved today thanks to his strong leadership, and he continues to stand up for the people’s right to enact their values in the law – not have abortion on demand until birth imposed on them by unelected judges,” she added.
LifeSiteNews reached out to the Florida governor’s office for comment on Judge Cooper’s decision to let the state’s pro-life law remain in effect. This article will be updated if a statement is provided.