A Montana judge has temporarily blocked the state from enforcing a 15-week “dismemberment” abortion ban just hours after it was enacted.
District Judge Mike Menahan granted a request by Planned Parenthood of Montana for a temporary restraining order on the enforcement of the law on May 18 after the organization argued it is unconstitutional.
Menahan set a hearing to consider a preliminary injunction in the case for May 23.
In his order (pdf) the judge wrote that “the balance of equities weighs in favor of granting Plaintiffs and their patients temporary relief,” adding that the abortion ban, known as House Bill 721, presents a “prima facie constitutional violation.”…