NEW ORLEANS — Friday morning, New Orleans will become the epicenter of the abortion fight in Louisiana.
Judge Ethel Simms Julien will hear arguments on whether current trigger laws banning abortion in Louisiana are clear enough to enforce.
If pro-choice plaintiffs Hope Medical Group and Medical Students for Choice successfully argue that the laws are not clear enough, abortion rights could hang on in Louisiana, but on thin ice. There would likely be an appeal, and Attorney General Jeff Landry says the lawsuit delays the inevitable.
If Landry can convince the court that the laws are clear, the court would presumably lift the injunction, meaning clinics will have to shut down again.
Here’s a timeline of the most recent abortion rights fight in Louisiana:
June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe versus Wade, a landmark court decision that returned the power on abortion rights back to the state level.
Longtime trigger laws on the books in Louisiana meant all three abortion clinics were forced to close their doors immediately.
Then, on June 27, came the temporary restraining order. Hope Medical Group and Medical Students for Choice, a group from New Orleans, filed a petition arguing that the trigger laws on the books were unconstitutionally vague.
The petition argues, in one example, that the state permits abortions for medically futile pregnancies, but the Louisiana Department of Health hasn’t yet come up with the list of what is considered medically futile.
Orleans Parish Civil District Judge Robin Giarrusso granted that order until July 8, temporarily lifting the ban on abortions and allowing the procedure to continue.
The next day, June 28, the three abortion clinics in Louisiana began to reopen.
The day after that, June 29, Attorney General Jeff Landry volleyed back in the form of a letter. He threatened the medical licenses of doctors who continued to perform abortions, and insisted they were not immune from prosecution of acts performed during this time.
July 2, the legal battle heated up. Landry petitioned the court to dissolve the temporary restraining order. A few days later, on July 6, the Louisiana Supreme Court rejected Landry’s request, declining to get involved.
That temporary restraining order expires Friday, July 8, when both sides will meet in front of Judge Ethel Simms Julien.