CV NEWS FEED // The Florida Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the state’s law protecting most unborn children after six weeks of pregnancy is constitutional and can go into effect. On the same day, the court also allowed a pro-abortion constitutional amendment to be placed on Florida’s November ballot.
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the pro-life law in April 2023. The court’s 6-1 decision will allow it to take effect May 1.
In the ruling, Justice Jamie Grosshans wrote: “We conclude there is no basis under the Privacy Clause to invalidate the statute.”
“In doing so, we recede from our prior decisions in which—relying on reasoning the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected— we held that the Privacy Clause guaranteed the right to receive an abortion through the end of the second trimester,” continued Grosshans, a DeSantis appointee.
Justice Jorge Labarga was the sole justice to dissent. Labarga was appointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist, whom DeSantis defeated by nearly 20 points in the 2022 Florida gubernatorial election.
The court’s ruling allowing the pro-abortion amendment to advance to Florida’s November ballot was a narrow one – 4-3.
If the question were to receive 60% or more of the vote in November, it would add a so-called “right” to abortion up to around 24 weeks’ gestation to the state’s constitution.
The Washington Post reported that the twin “rulings will ensure that abortion is a major issue in Florida in the presidential election.”
The Post further noted that Florida’s pro-life law “includes exceptions for rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies and medical emergencies” and “will all but eliminate abortion access in the South.” Both Alabama and Georgia, which border Florida, already have pro-life laws in effect.
Monday’s two rulings garnered mixed reactions from observers on both sides of the political aisle.
“There is nowhere in the Southeast that can absorb Florida’s patient base. It’s simply not possible,” a pro-abortion activist stated in response to the court upholding the six-week law. “That is simply an unmanageable volume of patients to try to offset to another state.”
Meanwhile, Florida Republican Party Chairman Evan Power zeroed in on the court’s other decision allowing the vote on the pro-abortion amendment to proceed.
“We are very disappointed that a deceptively worded pro-abortion amendment is allowed to appear on Florida’s ballot in November,” Power wrote in a statement posted to X (formerly Twitter). “If passed, it will allow abortions up to 6 months of pregnancy and, thanks to a loophole, even to point of birth.”
Liberty Counsel, a pro-life and pro-religious freedom legal organization, shared the chairman’s concern.
“We are incredibly disappointed that the Florida Supreme Court ruled 4-3 to allow the deceptively worded abortion ballot initiative to appear on the ballot in November,” the group stated on X:
We fought against this unlawful abortion amendment that would essentially allow unfettered abortion access by overriding virtually all pro-life protections if passed. We will work to educate Florida voters on the devastating implications of this amendment and continue fighting to prevent it from becoming law. We are hopeful Floridians will side with LIFE in November!
On the other hand, far-left state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, praised the narrow 4-3 ruling, writing in all capital letters: “ABORTION WILL BE ON THE BALLOT IN FLORIDA!”
Before her election to the Florida House of Representatives, Eskamani worked for Planned Parenthood.
Similarly, pro-abortion U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-FL, wrote that he “applaud[s] the Florida Supreme Court’s decision today to allow a ballot initiative protecting abortion rights in the Sunshine State.”
“Everyone deserves the right to make their own healthcare decisions, and this referendum gives women the opportunity to voice that opinion,” the congressman added.
Journalist Varad Mehta pointed out that unlike in other states such as Ohio, where only a simple majority vote is required to approve a Constitutional amendment, “[a]mendments in Florida need sixty percent to pass.”
“[T]hat will not be easy for the abortion amendment to get,” Mehta wrote.
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