(Miami) The Florida Supreme Court on Monday validated the inclusion on the ballot in the November US elections of an amendment guaranteeing the right to abortion, increasingly threatened in states led by Republicans.
This success of abortion rights activists in their fight to put this issue at the heart of the campaign was nevertheless clearly tempered by a decision rendered simultaneously by the highest court of this southeastern state, authorizing entry into force of a law prohibiting abortion beyond six weeks of pregnancy.
Democratic outgoing President Joe Biden has made protecting the right to voluntary termination of pregnancy a focus of his campaign against his Republican predecessor Donald Trump.
Abortion rights activists are trying in around fifteen states across the country to put this issue on the ballot, which could facilitate the mobilization of the Democratic electorate, particularly among young people. Among these states, several are likely to swing the election, such as Pennsylvania (northeast), Arizona or Nevada (southwest).
They have already won their case in the states of New York and Maryland (east), and now in Florida.
A citizen petition that has gathered the required number of some 900,000 signatories proposes that an amendment to the Florida Constitution “limit state interference in abortion.”
The state Supreme Court rejects Republican officials’ objections and “approves placing the proposed amendment on the ballot” in the November presidential and legislative elections.
If passed by at least 60% of the vote, this amendment will be added to the Florida Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
It prohibits “the adoption of any law prohibiting, criminalizing, delaying or restricting abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the health of the patient”, with fetal viability generally estimated around 24 weeks.
“Direct democracy”
One of the petition’s initiators, Lauren Brenzel, welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision, noting in a statement that state policymakers were “trying to ban abortion before most women even knew realize that they are pregnant.
“Floridians saw their legislature pass a ban on abortion starting at 15 weeks and then six weeks and this is our chance to participate in direct democracy to stop these unpopular and harmful policies,” she added. .
Because immediately, the highest court in Florida also rejected on Monday the suspension of a law promulgated in April 2023 by the Republican governor of the state, Ron DeSantis, banning abortion beyond six weeks of pregnancy . This text will therefore enter into force in 30 days.
In March, Joe Biden’s Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, indicated that he might support a national ban beyond 15 or 16 weeks.
But he also considered that it was not up to the federal administration to decide on these questions, warning against the electoral cost of an overly conservative position on this eminently sensitive subject.
“This new extreme ban – for which Donald Trump personally opened the way – will represent a ban for the entire southeast” of the country, Joe Biden’s campaign team reacted in a press release.
Donald Trump prides himself on having, through his appointments to the Supreme Court of the United States, resulted in the reversal of jurisprudence of June 2022 which annulled the federal guarantee of the right to abortion.
Since this decision giving states full latitude to legislate in this area, around twenty have banned or severely restricted access to abortion.