Will Louisiana's abortion laws take effect?
That's what an Orleans Parish judge will decide after hearing a challenge against those laws Friday morning. The question before the judge: Are the state's trigger laws constitutional?
According to former federal magistrate judge Mimi Methvin, the laws are vague enough and contain enough contradictions that the Orleans Parish judge could invalidate them.
"The constitutional principles require that for criminal acts that individuals who are subject to being penalized have to understand what's being prohibited," Methvin said. "It's quite clear to me after reading the petition that the scheme of the Louisiana bans does not stand up to constitutional muster."
Methvin points to several contradictions as examples.
One of the arguments the plaintiffs make are that the first trigger ban and the second ban abortion at any gestational age. The third applies after 15 weeks," Methvin noted. ""There is an exception for ectopic pregnancies in the law, but that's not borne out by the definitions that are set out."
Methvin also says the law may infringe upon the civil rights of doctors.
"What the physicians have argued to the court is that their licenses and their liberty are on the line here, and they are trying to figure out the provisions of three different laws that contradict each other, and they have different exceptions to the definition of abortion," Methvin said of the lawsuit. "The doctors who are having to navigate this new landscape have no idea if they are subject to serving 10 years in prison, lifetime in prison, or what the exact criminal penalties are because the three different bans have different provisions for each of those.
"The question for the court at the hearing is going to be: Is it correct? Are these laws impermissibly vague? Do the doctors know really what's illegal and what could land them in jail?"
Methvin believes the law could have a major impact on women's health and the healthcare profession in Louisiana if the judge allows it to stand.
"I think what we're going to find is a big economic impact of doctors that do not want to study medicine in Louisiana."
