Floridians want to enshrine abortion access in their state constitution
Florida has currently a 15 week abortion ban and its legislation is even considering a 6 week ban. What that means is that women in Florida will not be able to get abortion care past 6 weeks of pregnancy and as a result will be forced to have unwanted pregnancies.
Floridians want to reverse these bans and allow their doctors and hospitals to provide abortion related care without restrictions up to the point of fetal “viability” which is roughly 24 weeks of pregnancy.
An activist group called Floridians Protecting Freedom managed to collect enough signatures- 910,000 to be exact – in support of a ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
Floridians Protecting Freedom proposes an amendment to the state constitution declaring that:
“No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion care before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider”.
The next hurdle that the ballot measure faces is the opposition from the Republican attorney general who asked the Florida Supreme Court to block it as the term “viability” could have a meaning much broader than what the voters would have ever considered. The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments in February of this year.
Should the Florida Supreme Court allow the measure to be in the general election ballot in November, then, the people of Florida will decide whether their constitution will protect access to abortion care. Read more