(As originally published with bells and whistles, Tue, August 9th 2022, 3:16 PM EDT)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (CBS12) ā The synagogue suing the state over its new abortion restriction law announced it filed a new suit with multiple plaintiffs, including a doctor and a woman who wants to protect her right to have an abortion.
The case was filed in the Second Circuit Court in Tallahassee.
Rabbi Barry Silver of Congregation LāDor Va-Dor in Palm Beach County, spearheaded this and held a remote news conference on Tuesday afternoon.
Silver ā who’s also a lawyer and former state representative ā is also calling for a temporary injunction.
In June, Silver said the law “discriminates against Jews, the mentally ill and those who do not share the views of fundamentalist Christianity.”
He further explained, āIn Judaism, personhood begins at birth and the best interests of the mother prevail over those of the fetus at all stages of pregnancy. The Act says the opposite, reflecting a view that life begins at conception and/or 15 weeks of gestation, and places the interests of the fetus over the mother. Thus, the Act criminalizes Judaism (and other religions) and subjects those subject to the Act to fines and imprisonment.ā
Two Unitarian ministers and a Buddhist minister have joined the suit, which Silver said will be joined with the one filed in June.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is also a defendant. He signed the bill into law at a church in Kissimmee.
The law bans abortions after 15 weeks and has no exemptions for rape or incest. It would allow an exemption if the pregnancy is a serious risk to the mother ā and a second doctor agrees in writing ā or if a fatal fetal abnormality is detected.
DeSANTIS and ABORTION:
- 2022-08-04 DeSantis suspends Hillsborough state attorney who āput himself above the lawā
- 2022-07-14 Gov. DeSantis talks inflation, abortion during Thursday afternoon news conference
- 2022-06-30 Gov. DeSantis: Judge ruling Florida abortion law unconstitutional was ānot unanticipatedā
- 2022-06-24 Disney, other corporations prepared for Supreme Court abortion decision, just in case
- 2022-06-24 Abortion ruling divisive in South Florida, just as the issue had been
A judge briefly stopped the abortion law shortly after it went into effect at the beginning of July, but the law took effect again when the state appealed.
In that lawsuit, Planned Parenthood v. State of Florida, the judge called the legislation unconstitutional for violating the state constitution, which guarantees a right to privacy and therefore abortion.
That happened to come less than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. The court’s Dobbs ruling ended federal protections for abortions and moved those battles to state courts and legislatures.
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