TALLAHASSEE, Fla. _ A clash over a law requiring women to wait 24 hours before receiving an abortion reached the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday, as justices heard arguments from the American Civil Liberties Union to quash it and from the state to keep the law intact.
On behalf of a Gainesville women's health clinic that brought the lawsuit, ACLU attorney Julia Kaye argued the law infringes on a woman's right to privacy and the burden should be on the state to prove the 24-hour delay is constitutional.
"The state is telling a woman she can't exercise her constitutional right to an abortion for 24 hours," Kaye said.
Denise Harle, deputy solicitor general for Attorney General Pam Bondi, countered that the state has an interest in making sure women take the proper time to consider their decision before having an abortion. She likened it to other momentous life decisions like getting married or divorced, calling it "irreversible."
"There is a societal interest in making sure people are entering into these decisions with due deliberation," Harle said.
Although the issue was already at the state Supreme Court level, there still could be a lengthy legal battle in store. The hearing Tuesday only addressed whether the court should temporarily strike down the law. No matter what the court decides, it would go back to a lower court to decide whether the law is constitutional.
The lawsuit was brought by the Bread and Roses Women's Health Center in Gainesville after Republican Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law in 2015. It requires a woman to have two in-person doctors visits with an interval of at least a day before receiving an abortion.
Kaye said the law targets women considering getting an abortion.
"Clearly the state is sending a message that it wants them to reconsider their decision and they disapprove of their decision," Kaye said.
