Florida Appeals Court Orders State to Enforce 24-Hour Abortion Wait Period

The appeals court in Florida has ordered the state on Friday to enforce the 24-hour wait period for women who are considering an abortion.

The three-judge panel with the 1st District Court of Appeal lifted an injunction that was blocking the waiting period from going into effect. According to the panel, the circuit judge who ordered the injunction, Judge Charles Francis, did not have any facts or evidence to support his decision.

"In the abortion context as in any other, injunctive relief requires competent, substantial evidence to support the necessary findings of fact," the judges wrote reported by the Tampa Bay Times.

Francis had blocked the law one day before its enforcement date.

The Florida Legislature passed the law last year, which was signed by Governor Rick Scott, after an emotional debate. During the session, the Democrats, who were against passing the bill, argued that the bill was an infringement on women's rights. The Republicans stated that the bill would give women more time to decide on whether or not they wanted to go through with the procedure.

The American Civil Liberties Union - on the behalf of an abortion clinic in Gainesville - challenged the law by arguing that the waiting period places a burden on women that violates their right to privacy.

The law will not be applying to all pregnancies. Women who get pregnant via rape, domestic abuse, incest or human trafficking will not have to wait 24 hours. They would, however, have to provide evidence, such as a police report, to their doctors.