(CNN) — In a setback for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican lawmakers, a Florida judge has ruled that a new state law banning 15-week abortions is unconstitutional and is intended to prevent it from taking effect Friday.
In an oral ruling Thursday, Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge John Cooper said he would issue a statewide temporary injunction — effective once he signs the written order — in a challenge filed by some Florida abortion providers.
The decision is a short-term victory for abortion rights advocates in Florida and comes a week after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and eliminated a constitutional right that had existed for half a century. For now, abortion in Florida will remain legal until 24 weeks of pregnancy, making the state one of the most permissive in the South.
Christina Pushaw, a spokeswoman for DeSantis, told CNN in a statement that the state intends to appeal the ruling.
“While we are disappointed with today’s ruling, we know that pro-life HB 5 will ultimately withstand all legal challenges,” Pushaw said.
Abortion rights advocates and Democrats celebrated Cooper’s decision. In a statement, Florida Democratic Party Chairman Manny Diaz said the law was “gross interference in personal medical decisions that should be between patients and their doctors.”
“Politicians like the governor don’t have to restrict the health freedoms of Floridians,” he added.
In the short term, the decision will have far-reaching implications for women across the South, where so-called trigger laws, which are bans designed to take effect with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and bans no longer in legal limbo are rapidly stopping access to the procedure. For years, Florida has been a safe haven for women seeking an abortion, and providers expect the state’s 55 clinics to be busy with appointments for women from neighboring states where abortion may soon be illegal.
DeSantis signed the new abortion restrictions into law in April at an Orlando-area megachurch surrounded by women and children and cheered on by pastors, anti-abortion activists and other supporters.
The law would ban abortion at 15 weeks with no exceptions for women who become pregnant as a result of rape, incest or human trafficking. The law would allow abortions in cases where a pregnancy is “serious risk” for the mother or if a fatal fetal abnormality is detected and two doctors confirm the diagnosis in writing.
About 75,000 of the 80,000 abortions reported by the state in 2021 occurred during the first trimester, meaning the vast majority of procedures will still be allowed under the new state law. Historically, Florida is among the states with the most abortions per capita per year, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The law directly challenged decades of legal precedent that established abortion as constitutionally protected in Florida. Florida’s state constitution includes a right to privacy, which the state Supreme Court has long interpreted as giving Floridians the freedom to access abortion without government intrusion.
In his ruling from the bench, Cooper said the ban “violates the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution.”
While the decision will delay implementation of the state’s new abortion restrictions while the case moves through the legal system, the state’s conservative Supreme Court is expected to have the final say. All seven members of the state’s top court were appointed by Republican governors, including three selected by DeSantis. By the time the case reaches Supreme Court status, there may be a fourth DeSantis appointee on the court due to recent retirement.
Pushaw said the state’s argument is that the Florida Supreme Court “previously misconstrued Florida’s right to privacy as including the right to abortion. We reject this interpretation because the Florida Constitution does not and never has included the right to kill an innocent unborn child.”
The dramatic change in the legal landscape in Florida has left Democrats and abortion-rights advocates pessimistic that long-standing legal protections will long withstand this challenge.
“We don’t think this court sees it the same way other courts have,” state Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book recently told CNN. “Any piece of protection, that modicum of protection is gone.”