The Florida Supreme Court on Monday cleared the way for a ban on abortions following just six weeks of pregnancy, although it allowed an abortion rights amendment to go on the ballot in November.
Both decisions highlight the bitter fight over reproductive rights, an issue Democrats are championing in an election year.
Abortion is currently permitted in the southern state up to 15 weeks of pregnancy, but a Republican-backed law reduces that time to six weeks, before many women realize they are pregnant.
The conservative-dominated state supreme court is considering the legality of abortion restrictions, as well as a proposed amendment that would guarantee a woman’s right to abortion in Florida’s constitution.
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Amendment 4, as it is called, reads in part: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion prior to continuation or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”
The viability of the fetus outside the uterus is generally considered to be around 24 weeks.
At least 60% of Florida voters must approve the amendment, sponsored by a campaign called Floridians Protecting Freedom, for it to pass.
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“We are thrilled that Floridians will have the opportunity to reclaim their bodily autonomy and freedom from government interference by voting for Amendment 4 this November,” said campaign director Lauren Brenzel.
“Florida voters saw legislators pass bans on 15-week and then six-week abortions, and this is our opportunity to engage in direct democracy to stop this unpopular and dangerous policy,” Brenzel said in a statement.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, has urged the seven-member state Supreme Court, which includes five members appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, to reject placing the amendment on the ballot.
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Abortion access on the ballot
Democrats have pushed reproductive rights to center stage in the November general election campaign, which is expected to feature a rematch between Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump.
Democrats hope having abortion on the ballot will increase their turnout in Florida, which Trump won in both 2016 and 2020, and in other states.
The conservative-dominated US Supreme Court, which includes three Trump nominees, struck down the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022 and left it to individual states to determine the issue.
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Since then, regarding 20 states have banned or restricted abortion procedures but voters in several Republican-majority states have rejected measures to limit abortion access.
In conservative Kansas and Kentucky, as well as in the swing state of Michigan, voters rejected ballot initiatives in 2022 that would have essentially banned abortion.
Ohio voters approved a constitutional amendment last year guaranteeing abortion access.
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In addition to Florida, there are efforts for ballot measures on abortion in many other states including Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.
Biden, in his annual address to Congress last month, warned anti-abortion Republican lawmakers regarding the “power of women” and made clear that reproductive rights would be a core theme of his campaign.
Biden is a devout Catholic, but as president he has been steadfast in his support for abortion access. (AFP/Z-3)
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