The Florida Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments next month over whether an abortion-rights state constitutional amendment would qualify to appear on the November General Election ballot.
The court set the hearing for Feb. 7 at 9 a.m.
“A maximum of twenty minutes to the side is allowed for the argument, but counsel is expected to use only so much of that time as is necessary. NO CONTINUANCES WILL BE GRANTED EXCEPT UPON A SHOWING OF EXTREME HARDSHIP,” the order reads (emphasis in the original).
A group called Floridians Protecting Freedom has been gathering petition signature behind its proposed Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion. The latest figures posted by the Florida Division of Elections reflects verification of 863,876 signatures, although as of mid-December the group said it had collected 1.4 million signatures and submitted 1.375 million to supervisors of elections in Florida’s counties for verification.
The total must include signatures representing at least 8% of the votes cast in the last presidential election in at least half of Florida’s 28 congressional districts. As of Wednesday, it had met that threshold in 12 counties, leaving two to go.
After the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade in 2022, the Florida Legislature passed a 15-week abortion ban and later a six-week ban that would take effect if the Florida Supreme Court upholds the 15-week ban; the justices have heard oral arguments and a ruling is pending. A six-week ban would all but end abortion access in Florida, since most people don’t realize they are pregnant at that stage.
A ruling in favor of these laws would require the court to overturn its own 1989 precedent establishing a right to abortion under the privacy clause voters added to the Constitution in 1980.
Ballot language
The state high court also is conducting a routine review of the ballot language of the proposed abortion constitutional amendment. That text 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.”
The court is not supposed to consider the merit of ballot initiative texts — only whether they deal with single subjects (and don’t logroll unrelated ends) and won’t confuse voters, as initiative proponents reminded the justices in a brief reminding the court not to let “political questions” get in the way.
Yet members of the court are noted for opposing abortion rights, including Justice Charles Canady, whose wife, Jennifer, sponsored the six-week ban. During oral arguments over the abortion legislation, Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz referred to fetuses as “human beings,” suggesting sympathy for the state’s defense.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, has filed briefs arguing against accepting the ballot language on ground including that its use of the word “viability” is ambiguous, although since Roe it has been widely accepted as meaning the point at which a fetus could survive outside the womb, between 23 and 24 weeks’ gestational age.
Organizations including Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Florida Voters Against Extremism have filed briefs in support of Moody’s position.
The post Arguments over abortion-rights initiative set for Feb. before Florida Supreme Court appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
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