TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday that the state constitution does not protect access to abortion, leaving the current 15-week ban in place and invoking a stricter six-week ban.
The six-week ban is expected to take effect within 30 days.
But the court on Monday separately gave the OK to put an amendment protecting abortion on the November ballot.
The justices voted 6-1 to uphold the constitutionality of the 15-week abortion law signed into law in 2022 by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The ruling was a departure from precedent set in the 1980s that upheld the state’s right to privacy. Protected the decision whether to terminate a pregnancy.
When the Florida Legislature passed a six-week abortion ban last year, it created a trigger clause that set it to go into effect after a court ruling upholding the 15-week abortion law.
The change disrupts access to abortion for women not only in Florida but throughout the Southeastern United States, making it difficult to obtain legal abortions in some parts of the United States where many states have near-total bans on abortion. The number of places you can request will be reduced.
The justices were even more divided on the revised decision, deciding by a 4-3 margin to allow it to appear on the ballot. The amendment is supported by abortion rights groups and financially supported by Planned Parenthood and other groups.
Part of the text of the proposed amendment states, “No law shall prohibit abortion before viability or if, in the judgment of the patient’s health care provider, is necessary to protect the health of the patient; shall not be penalized, delayed, or restricted.” The viable period is estimated to be around 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Attorney General Ashley Moody challenged the amendment as misleading, but a majority of Florida judges said otherwise. In the court’s majority opinion, Justices Carlos Muniz, Charles Canady, John Curiel, and Labarga said that the breadth of the proposed amendments was clear from the summary, and that they believed it would “necessitate an escape from reality.” He denied that it was.
DeSantis said in a statement that the three dissenting justices — Jamie Groshans, Renatha Francis and Meredith Sasso — were correct. Like Muniz and Courier, all three are appointees of DeSantis.
“This amendment is misleading and will confuse voters,” DeSantis spokeswoman Julia Friedland said in a statement. She said: “This language hides the true purpose of the amendment, which is to require abortion to be permitted up to the time of birth.”
At least 60% of voters are required to approve the amendment. If passed, it would effectively rescind the six-week abortion ban just months after it took effect. It also could rescind Florida’s current 24-hour delay in abortion requirements. Parents would be notified before a minor child undergoes an abortion, but the amendment could override the law requiring parental consent.
In the nearly two years since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, which had given federal protections for abortion, voters in several states have voted to expand access to abortion or remove further restrictions. It’s moving in either direction.
That includes Ohio, where about 57% of voters in November supported a measure that would protect abortion until viability. Since 2022, abortion rights advocates have won in all seven states where voters agreed on abortion.
Although Muñiz agreed to put the amendment to a vote, he expressed concern in a concurring opinion about how the amendment would affect the rights of unborn children, stating that “protecting the entire class of human beings” “It would constitute constitutional limits on the people’s ability to use the law to protect their interests.” It exists out of personal harm. ”
It echoes a question he posed during oral argument in February.
Mary Ziegler, a reproductive law expert at the University of California, Davis, said she expected a Florida judge would eventually write about “fetal personhood,” which aims to give fetuses additional legal rights. Stated. But she said she did not expect it to be included in the voting ruling, especially since it was not part of Moody’s argument.
“Typically, courts are not willing to compromise more than necessary to resolve a particular case,” Ziegler said.
Monday’s court’s double ruling The abortion issue caused mixed feelings among people on both sides.
Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for the group sponsoring the amendment, said in a statement that she is “excited that Floridians will have the opportunity to regain their bodily autonomy by voting yes on the amendment in November. ” he said. Brenzel added that the six-week ban was an “extremist” policy.
“The government should not interfere in the personal medical decisions that should be made between Floridians and their doctors,” Brenzel said. “And doctors and nurses should not risk criminal prosecution to treat the patients in front of them.”
Caitlin Connors, southern regional director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said the group is excited about the upcoming six-week law, but the amended ruling could undo it. He said he was disappointed in certain things.
“What certainly lies ahead of us is the great fight to continue to protect unborn children and the progress that has been made to protect unborn children in the state of Florida,” Connors said.
In a statement, Judge Moody expressed disappointment that the justices approved the amendment, but praised the court for “revisiting Florida’s privacy rights precedent” during the 15-week abortion law case. did.
Florida’s new six-week ban includes limited exceptions for rape up to 15 weeks pregnant, incest and human trafficking, and requires some form of evidence, such as medical records or police reports. . Otherwise, exceptions are made for the health of the mother.
Opponents of the restrictions say some women don’t even know they’re pregnant until the sixth week.
Florida will soon enact a six-week ban, and North Carolina will become the only Southern state with more access to abortions by ending the 12-week period. Virginia does not restrict access to abortion, and abortions can be performed up to 26 weeks. Georgia and South Carolina also imposed six-week suspensions. Other southern states, such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, completely ban abortion, with limited exceptions.
Times staff writer Ivy Nyayeka and Times/Herald Tallahassee bureau reporter Alexandra Glorioso contributed to this report.
