Louisiana AG petitions to lift temporary block on state’s abortion ban

NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana’s attorney general has filed a petition asking the state’s Supreme Court to dissolve a temporary halt on a trigger law that would ban abortions statewide.

The legislation was poised to go into effect after a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning the benchmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, which protected abortions at a federal level for decades. The court’s decision last month put abortion laws back in the hands of each state, allowing each to decide how to regulate the procedure.

In Louisiana, that ruling activated a trigger law designed to go into effect in the event that Roe v. Wade was overturned. That legislation effectively bans abortions, with no exceptions in instances of rape or incest. 

A lawsuit filed within days of the ruling argued that the language in Louisiana’s trigger law was too vague, and a state judge granted a temporary restraining order halting the ban pending a hearing on July 8. 

La. Attorney General Jeff Landry’s petition filed Friday calls for the state Supreme Court to cancel out the order in the remaining days before the hearing.