NEW ORLEANS — Dozens of community members spoke out and let their voices be heard at Washington Square on Sunday, calling for women to have a choice when it comes to abortion.
It comes after a three-judge panel ruled that the state's trigger law must remain in effect while the legal process plays out. It's not clear when the ban will go back into effect.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs in the case said the ban cannot be enforced until state Judge Donald Johnson signs the motion.
Kellyanne Bates was one of the protesters on Sunday evening. She said she's been actively fighting the abortion rights war from the beginning.
"Abortion is healthcare, and it's a healthcare right all of us should have," Bates said. "We have to progress and we have to make it safer and better instead of tearing it all apart to where people don't have rights."
She and dozens of others called for Louisiana Judge Johnson to allow abortions to continue as protesters marched through the French Quarter and echoed their message. Onlookers supported the call for the ban to be lifted.
Jessica Goldfinch is part of the Louisiana Abortion Rights Action Committee which organized Sunday's event. She said every woman deserves the right to choose.
"Working women have a lot more power than we think we have and that together we can change things," Goldfinch said.
The organization also called for improved access to contraception and affordable, quality childcare, along with the right to same-sex marriage.
Ben Clapper from Louisiana Right to Life said the abortion ban played out in the courtroom and could soon be in force.
"The citizens of Louisiana who've been waiting to protect unborn children from abortion, their right to protect unborn children will be vindicated through the process," Clapper said.
Louisiana's abortion ban does not have exceptions for rape or incest. The law does provide an exception for 'medically futile' pregnancies in cases of fetuses with fatal abnormalities.