With last week’s Supreme Court opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization effectively overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion advocates are working to prevent the worst consequences of the decision from going into effect. In Florida, groups like religious nonprofit and Jewish synagogue Congregation L'Dor Va-Dor and abortion providers like Planned Parenthood have both filed lawsuits against the state over HB 5. The legislation, which takes effect this Friday, bans abortions from being performed after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The only exceptions are if the pregnancy poses a threat to the individual—though psychological harm does not fall under that exception—or if “two physicians certify in writing that, in reasonable medical judgment, the fetus has a fatal fetal abnormality.”
The present law allows for abortions in Florida up to 24 weeks. Leon Circuit Judge John C. Cooper heard Planned Parenthood’s case on Monday in which the reproductive health care provider argued in favor of Cooper issuing an injunction blocking HB 5 from taking effect. You may recognize Cooper’s name from his judgment upholding Florida’s mask mandate in schools, which certainly rankled anti-mask Republicans. Cooper was requested as the judge to hear L’Dor Va-Dor’s case as well, which was presented as an emergency motion filed on June 16. The complaint itself was filed on June 10.
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Speaking on NPR’s Here and Now, Rabbi Barry Silver spoke about why his congregation was suing the state of Florida on religious grounds. “According to the Torah, life begins at birth. It says in Genesis that God breathed life into the humans after they were already formed,” Silver explained, further citing the Torah explicitly stating that the fetus is a part of the pregnant person. He said it’s a birthing person’s right to have an abortion no matter the circumstances. “No one has the right to tell them what to do,” Silver said.
Silver said his congregation’s lawsuit explicitly takes issue with both the Florida Constitution and the nation’s, both of which guarantee the right to religious freedom. He believes that further legal challenges will occur across the country. The Rabbi, former attorney, and former lawmaker even urges other rabbis to follow suit. Many, many Jewish organizations and advocacy groups have already indicated they’re willing to fight the Supreme Court’s decision however they can. L’Dor Va-Dor was hoping to consolidate its case with Planned Parenthood’s, but that motion was denied earlier this month. Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit, which includes groups like the ACLU as well as reproductive care providers, has moved forward and Judge Cooper is expected to issue a ruling on Thursday.
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