The Florida Supreme Court on Monday paved the way for the state’s six-week abortion ban to take effect, while allowing Floridians to decide in the fall whether to enshrine abortion protections in the state’s constitution.
By upholding Florida’s current 15-week ban on abortion, the state Supreme Court triggered a six-week abortion ban approved by Florida lawmakers last year.
The law will take effect in 30 days. But, in a separate ruling, the court approved the wording of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would protect the right to an abortion in Florida, clearing it to go on the ballot as Amendment 4 this November when it could potentially undo both bans.
Constitutional amendments in Florida need the support of at least 60 percent of voters to be approved.
Monday’s rulings will make Florida one of the most restrictive states in the country to obtain an abortion and set up a presidential-year fight over reproductive rights in the Sunshine State.
The Biden campaign on Monday cast Florida, a longtime swing state that has trended Republican in recent elections, as “winnable” in November as it seeks to mobilize voters around abortion rights. With the measure poised to appear on the state’s ballot, Florida will join several other states, including Michigan and Ohio, where voters have weighed in directly on reproductive rights since the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The initiative could also boost voter turnout in what is expected to be a close rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. In January, Floridians Protecting Freedom, the coalition behind the ballot initiative, gathered just under a million signatures of registered voters to qualify for Florida Supreme Court review. Justices had to decide if the amendment’s language is clear, unambiguous and would not confuse voters.
The court also had to decide if the language on the ballot deals with a single subject. Both legal requirements had to be met for the amendment to appear on the ballot. The wording of the proposed amendment that will appear on the ballot reads: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.
This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.” That language was challenged last year by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who asked the court to kill the amendment due to language she argued was vague and confusing, with the aim of tricking voters.
The justices on Monday said in their opinion, “it cannot be said that the ballot summary will mislead voters regarding the actual text of the proposed amendment.” Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for Yes on 4, said in a statement, “This is our chance to engage in direct democracy to stop these unpopular and harmful policies.”
“We are thrilled Floridians will have the opportunity to reclaim their bodily autonomy and freedom from government interference by voting for Amendment 4 this November,” Brenzel said.
“Today’s ruling also underscores the crucial role of Florida’s ballot initiative process, which provides voters an important opportunity to take the reins when politicians aren’t representing our interests.”
Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis last April signed the law banning most abortions after six weeks, before many women know that they are pregnant. Victims of rape, incest and human trafficking could obtain an abortion up to 15 weeks into a pregnancy, under the legislation, if the woman provides a restraining order, police report, medical record or other evidence. The bill would also ban doctors from prescribing an abortion via telehealth and require medication for abortion be dispensed by a physician, not by mail.
The bill’s enactment, though, was stalled after Planned Parenthood and other abortion rights groups sued to overturn a law signed by DeSantis in 2022 to ban abortions after 15 weeks, a restriction left in place while the legal challenge played out. The 15-week ban does not include exceptions for rape, incest or human trafficking, and a pregnancy cannot be terminated after 15 weeks unless the mother is at serious risk or a fatal fetal abnormality is detected if two physicians confirm the diagnosis in writing. For decades, courts in Florida have blocked legislative attempts to restrict abortion in the state.
The state Supreme Court in 1989 determined that a privacy clause in the state constitution “is clearly implicated in a woman’s decision of whether or not to continue her pregnancy.”
Abortion rights proponents and anti-abortion activists voice their opinions outside the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday, February 7, in Tallahassee, Florida
