Florida abortion law blocked at the last minute by federal judge

A federal judge blocked certain provisions in an abortion law in Florida late Thursday night, just a few hours before the new law was to take effect, in favor of Planned Parenthood.

A law signed by Gov. Rick Scott earlier this year contains provisions that prohibit state funding to organizations that provide abortion services.

Planned Parenthood, which stood in danger of losing an estimated $500,000 in funding for non-abortion services like health care screening, filed a lawsuit to challenge the new law.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that the state should not stop funding preventive care at abortion clinics. The judge also blocked a provision in the law that mandates the state to conduct inspections on half of the annual abortion records.

"The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that a government cannot prohibit indirectly — by withholding otherwise-available public funds — conduct that the government could not constitutionally prohibit directly," Hinkle wrote, according to the Associated Press.

Hinkle also said that the decision to let the state continue funding for clinics that provide abortion services was "not on any objection to how the funds are being spent ... but solely because the recipients of the funds choose to provide abortions separate and apart from any public funding."

"You can't defund based on exercising a constitutional right," he said. He added that while inspecting health records is justified, the state has no reason to do it for half of all patients.

Other provisions in the law will take into effect.

Planned Parenthood celebrated the ruling. Laura Goodhue, Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates executive director, called for the renewal of their local contracts following the judge's decision.

"They expired the 30th, so that's why we're working to renew them quickly," Goodhue said, according to Miami Herald.

Meanwhile, Planned Parenthood enjoyed another court victory in Indiana when a federal judge blocked an abortion law that was supposed to take effect on July 1.

The law was to restrict abortion based on genetic abnormalities like Down syndrome.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt issued a preliminary injunction to Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, which filed a lawsuit against the state through the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The United States Supreme Court has stated in categorical terms that a state may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability," Pratt said, as reported by Reuters.