Florida court clears way for Republican-backed abortion ban law

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for a Republican-backed law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. But it approved an initiative to let voters decide whether to amend U.S. state constitutions to establish a right to abortion.

In two rulings, the state’s highest court upheld an existing law banning abortions after 15 weeks, clearing the way for a six-week ban to take effect.

However, the court also rejected an effort by the state’s Republican attorney general to block a motion from appearing on the November ballot that would have given voters a chance to decide whether there should be a right to abortion.

“We refuse to infringe upon the prerogative reserved to the people to amend the Constitution,” the court said in one of its rulings.

Abortion will become illegal in Florida after 15 weeks under a law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022, two months after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision The landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide.

In April 2023, DeSantis signed a stricter ban passed by the Republican-controlled state Legislature that started at six weeks into pregnancy. The measure, which includes “trigger” language, enacts a near-total ban a month after the state Supreme Court affirmed a previous 15-month ban.

After six weeks, many women don’t know they are pregnant.

A group of Florida abortion providers, including affiliates of Planned Parenthood, filed a lawsuit in 2022 challenging the 15-week ban, saying the measure violated the state constitution.

Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said in a statement that her organization has seen the negative impact of the abortion ban on Florida patients.

“Today’s decision paves the way for Florida voters to stop these ridiculous abortion bans once and for all,” she said.

About the November 5 vote

Abortion access is now virtually non-existent in southern U.S. states, with most enacting sweeping restrictions backed by Republicans.

That could change on Nov. 5, when Florida voters decide on an abortion ballot initiative in the presidential election between Democrat Joe Biden and his Republican challenger, former President Donald Trump. Make a decision.

Democrats believe the abortion debate is driving supporters to head to the polls in 2022, when the party performs better than expected in congressional elections.

“This is our opportunity to engage in direct democracy to stop these unpopular and harmful policies,” said Lauren Brenzel, campaign director of Yes on 4, an umbrella group that supports the ballot initiative.

Liberty Lawyers, a conservative legal group that opposes the ballot initiative, posted on social media platform X that it was “very disappointed” with the court’s ruling. “We hope Floridians will support LIFE in November!”

Backers of the proposed constitutional amendment secured the number of signatures needed to put it on the ballot in January. It would ban laws that “prohibit, punish, delay, or limit abortion before survival or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”

On Monday, the Florida Supreme Court said it would depart from a 1989 ruling that the state constitutional right to privacy includes the right to abortion.

At the time, most of the high court’s judges were appointed by Democratic governors. The court is now considered one of the most conservative in the country.

The seven current justices were all appointed by Republican governors, including five appointed by DeSantis, an outspoken abortion opponent who unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination.

Republican state Attorney General Ashley Moody sued Floridians for Freedom, the abortion rights group that sponsored the ballot measure, arguing the proposal was vague and misleading.

The Florida Supreme Court rejected Moody’s argument, writing that “the broad scope of this proposed amendment is apparent from the language of the brief. To deny this would require escapism.”

Moody said in a statement that she would respect the court’s ruling.

Abortion rights advocates are trying to take the matter directly to voters. Abortion rights measures have enjoyed widespread support in every vote since the Supreme Court ruling.

Florida’s constitutional amendment must pass with at least 60 percent of the vote, a higher percentage than any statewide abortion measure has won to date.

In November, Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment that included abortion rights, 57% to 43%, in a state that voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election by 8 percentage points over Biden.

In 2020, Trump led Biden by 3 percentage points in Florida.

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday also rejected the attorney general’s bid to block a ballot initiative legalizing recreational marijuana use for adults.