Florida Supreme Court approves abortion restriction -- and ballot measure that would overturn it

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: 19th News

Florida Supreme Court approves abortion restriction -- and ballot measure that would overturn it
The court paved the way for a six-week ban passed in 2023 to take effect.

By Mel Leonor Barclay, Shefali Luthra
Published April 1, 2024, 4:07 p.m. ET

This article is developing. Check back for updates.

The Florida Supreme Court struck down its state abortion protection -- paving the way for a six-week ban passed in 2023 to take effect -- but will allow voters to weigh in on whether they can amend the state's constitution to explicitly enshrine abortion rights.

The ballot measure ruling marked a new stage in a fierce campaign to get Floridians behind the constitutional amendment, which will need the backing of 60 percent of voters to pass -- the highest threshold in the country. The amendment would establish a right to abortion in Florida to the point of fetal viability, which is determined by physicians but is usually around 22 to 25 weeks of pregnancy.

The measure would protect access to abortion for thousands of patients in the nation's third largest state and in the South, where the procedure has been severely restricted by Republican legislatures since the fall of Roe v. Wade.

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Read more: https://19thnews.org/2024/04/florida-abortion-ban-ballot-measure/

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Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

BREAKING: Florida Supreme Court Approves Ballot Measures On Abortion Rights And Recreational Weed
April 1, 2024
https://www.joemygod.com/2024/04/breaking-florida-supreme-court-approves-ballot-measures-on-abortion-rights-and-recreational-weed/

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[barbaraann]

1. Are they trying to throw the election to the Dems?

Or am I missing something?

[flashman13]

7. I don't think you are missing anything. The Rs just aren't very bright.

I can't think of a better way to rally the opposition than to put bodily autonomy rights and weed on the ballot. It is the perfect way to bring out women and young people.

I am going to go on the record here to say that TSF will lose the November election and that loss will reverberate down ballot which will help to turn the U.S. House blue. It will also blow some of Rs out of the Florida legislature as well. Maybe they will quit passing their ever more oppresive laws.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. After every previous state's ballot initiative to enshrine abortion/reproductive rights

ended up doing so, FL is going to roll the dice.

[MOMFUDSKI]

3. I am shocked. 5 of these judges were

appointed by little boots the meatball! MAGA will rue this day.

[Speaks2]

4. FLA Constitution

Voters passed an amendment to restore voting rights to felons in 2018. It still hasn't been enacted, at least not in real life, despite 65% approval.

Voters didn't punish them. We'll see what the Lege does if either these passes.

[truthisfreedom]

5. Do I understand this? 60% of votes received

must be for the constitutional change in order for it to pass?

[barbaraann]

8. That's a very high threshold.

But even if those amendments fail, they will bring out more people who will vote Dem, I think.

[voris820]

6. Best possible outcome.

Even though it allows the 6 week ban to take effect, that will help the pro-choice amendment and make it much more urgent to pass in the November election.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

9. Getting government off the backs of businesses

and into women's bodies.

[ScratchCat]

10. This allows them to save face

Look at it this way.

None of the justices will have to face family and friends having struck down the abortion ban. If the voters vote for the Amendment, nothing they can do about that. That's a win for them.

It also allows GOP women in the State to go to the polls and vote straight GOP, except for the Amendment where they vote to enshrine reproductive rights, without having to vote for a single Democrat. Another win for Republicans.

And when the Amendment passes, the Florida legislature will probably still claim the power to ban abortions and implement restrictions on women's health care, saying the Amendment doesn't actually say what it says.

Despite the attacks upon women, I don't expect a single Republican in a Red district to lose their seat in the Florida House or Senate, and I expect Trump or whoever their candidate end up being winning the State by a greater margin than in 2016 or 2020. Its just how bad this State has gotten in the past ten years with the influx of right wingers from Blue and Purple states.