After court win, AG vows to continue abortion fight

The Louisiana Attorney General’s Office will continue its course to fight an injunction against the state’s abortion ban issued last month despite an appeals court ruling reinstating the law on Friday.

Baton Rouge District Judge Don Johnson on Friday signed an order suspending a preliminary injunction against Louisiana’s near total ban on abortions after he was ordered to do so by a three-judge panel with the 1stCircuit Court of Appeal.

“The First Circuit Court of Appeals did what the law absolutely requires which is to grant a suspensive appeal which suspends the effect of the lower court’s ruling,” Loyola University Law Professor Dane Ciolino told Louisiana Radio Network. “The law on this is plain as day, it’s surprising that the appellate court had to tell the district court what the law requires.”

The order came in response to Attorney General Jeff Landry’s appeal of a preliminary injunction Johnson issued to block Louisiana’s abortion ban on July 21.

The change means the ban is now in effect while the Attorney General’s office continues to appeal Johnson’s ruling granting a preliminary injunction. The trial court judge requested the parties confer no later than 30 days from July 21 to develop a case management schedule for a trial on the merits of a permanent injunction, according to Landry’s office.

There will likely be some dispositive motions filed and or a trial on the merits, a spokesperson said.

“Depending on the decision, we expect there may be another appeal,” the spokesperson wrote.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in the case, the Shreveport abortion clinic Hope Medical Group for Women and Medical Students for Choice, told WWNO they had not received notice of the judge’s order as of Monday afternoon.
rest, but for now, The final verdict on Louisiana’s trigger ban, which was designed to take effect upon the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey in June, could be months off.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs argue the ban is unconstitutionally vague, both in terms of exceptions and when it takes effect. Attorneys representing Landry and Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Courtney Phillips have argued the law clearly bans elective abortions and doctors won’t be held criminally liable if they use “reasonable medical judgement.”

Landry has said he expects the Louisiana Supreme Court will ultimately decide the case.

Justices with the Louisiana Supreme Court voted 4-2 in July against a request by Landry to intervene in the case.

Justices Jefferson D. Hughes III, Piper D. Griffin, James T. Genovese, and Scott J. Crichton joined in the majority to deny Landry’s motion to reinstate Louisiana’s abortion ban “at this preliminary stage of proceedings,” while Hughes argued that intervening now is “procedurally premature.”

Lawmakers could also intervene to pass a new law to ban abortions, though they will not return to regular session until April 10, 2023.