Staff Reports
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday in Leon County Circuit Court to stop Florida’s new 24-hour waiting period on abortions from taking effect.
The lawsuit was filed less than 24 hours after Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill into law.
“It’s clear that the sole purpose of this law is to make it more difficult for a woman who has decided to have an abortion to get one, and to punish and discriminate against those who do,” said Renée Paradis, senior staff attorney for the ACLU, in a news release.
The move by the civil rights group was expected as is the follow up from lawmakers who support the bill, including former Senate President Don Gaetz, who co-sponsored the measure in the Senate along with Sen. Anitere Flores.
Gaetz issued a prepared statement on Thursday saying the 24-hour restriction is not “unreasonable” and that the state will “vigorously defend” the new law against the ACLU challenge.
“There is a three-day waiting period to get married and a thirty-day waiting period to get divorced. Both of those actions can be reversed. An abortion is irreversible,” Gaetz said.
