Louisiana Judge Blocks State From Enforcing Abortion Ban
BAND-AID ON A BULLET HOLE
Abortions may legally be performed in Louisiana once more after a state judge on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order against the trigger ban that took effect when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month. Donald Johnson, a Baton Rouge district judge, is the second authority within the span of just over two weeks to block the state’s attempts to ban abortion, with a New Orleans district judge temporarily granting a similar order on June 27. “This is an incredible relief for people who need abortion care right now in Louisiana. Abortion care in the state can resume today, and further irreparable harm has been avoided,” a senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said in a statement. In a fiery series of tweets on Tuesday, State Attorney General Jeff Landry slammed the decision. “To have the judiciary create a legal circus is disappointing and what discredits the institutions we rely upon for a stable society,” he wrote, adding in another tweet that the “rule of law must be followed, and I will not rest until it is.”