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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.
30+ powerful big-box, Big Tech, and mainstream media companies are targeting their young female employees by offering abortion travel “benefits” to new mothers — to kill their children for the sake of corporate profit and productivity!
THIS PRO-DEATH CORPORATE CULTURE WILL DESTROY LIVES AND VILLIFY BIG FAMILIES AND PRO-LIFE VALUES IF WE DON’T ACT NOW!
***WE CANNOT LOSE THE PRO-LIFE VICTORY AFTER ROE V. WADE TO ANTI-FAMILY COMPANIES! SEND A MESSAGE TO POWERFUL CEOs TODAY THAT YOU SUPPORT OUR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS OF LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!***
SIGN THE PETITION NOW TO WIN THE CORPORATE PRO-LIFE BATTLE!
Starbucks said it would reimburse travel expenses for employees who need abortions and cannot get them within 100 miles of their homes. In a memo on Monday, the company said it wanted to ensure that its employees had “access to quality health care.” https://t.co/PI1Yg2xKTx
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 16, 2022
Amazon says it will pay up to $4,000 in travel expenses annually for non-life threatening medical treatments including abortions, according to a message seen by Reuters. https://t.co/9M4Dtdzb4X
— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 3, 2022
The pro-life movement has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to send a pro-family message to millions of citizens for generations to come — but we cannot LOSE OUT on this moment by caving to corporations and their cheap and disgusting “abortion” benefits!
CONSUMERS MUST SEND A RESOUNDING MESSAGE TO ALL CORPORATE LEADERS THAT WE WILL NOT TOLERATE EMPLOYEE ABORTION PRESSURE!
SIGN TODAY and demand the following company CEOs SUPPORT WOMEN AND CHILDREN NOW!
***WE ARE DELIVERING THIS LETTER TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM!***
Jeff Bezos – Amazon
Brian Moynihan – Bank of America
Whitney Wolfe Herd – Bumble
BuzzFeed – Jonah Peretti
Cigna Health Insurance – David Cordani
Citigroup – Jane Fraser
CNN – Chris Licht
Comcast – Brian Roberts
Condé Nast – Roger Lynch
CVS Health – Karen Lynch
Dick’s Sporting Goods – Lauren Hobart
Goldman Sachs – David Solomon
Hewlett-Packard – Enrique Lores
JPMorgan Chase – Jamie Dimon
Kroger – Rodney McMullen
New York Times – Meredith Kopit Levien
Lyft – Logan Green
MasterCard – Michael Miebach
Meta/Facebook - Mark Zuckerberg
Microsoft – Satya Nadella
Paramount – Brian Robbins
Patagonia – Jenna Johnson
PayPal – Dan Schulman
Procter & Gamble – Jon Moeller
Salesforce – Marc Benioff
Starbucks – Kevin Johnson
Target – Brian Cornell
Tesla, Inc. – Elon Musk
Uber – Dara Khosrowshahi
Vox Media – Jim Bankoff
Disney – Bob Chapek
Yelp – Jeremy Stoppelman
Zillow – Rich Barton
*** SIGN NOW AND MAKE YOUR PRO-LIFE AND PRO-FAMILY VOICE HEARD AT THE WORLD'S LARGEST CORPORATIONS! TELL THESE CEOs TO STOP SUPPORTING ABORTION TODAY! ***
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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.