Florida’s Abortion Rights in the Balance, Anti-Abortion Forces Stand Ready for Legal Challenge

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – The fight against abortion rights in Florida is expected to last long after this year’s elections, as anti-abortion organizations plan to attempt to thwart the execution of a ballot measure safeguarding the practice if voters pass the initiative in November.

In response to the initiative, if voters pass it, “there is a prime lawsuit waiting to take it up to the Florida Supreme Court,” stated Mat Staver, the founder of the anti-abortion group Liberty Counsel, who spoke against the ballot issue before the state Supreme Court last winter.

During an interview, Staver stated, “I think the door is wide open for that challenge.” Between now and then, a lot will happen. However, that would undoubtedly be our next course of action if that were the case.

Staver’s remarks to POLITICO came the day after former President Donald Trump predicted that voters in Florida would “probably change” the state’s harsh abortion laws, which include one that forbids the operation at six weeks of pregnancy when many women are still unaware that they are pregnant. The six-week restriction imposed by the state is scheduled to take effect in a few weeks.

Trump spoke on Wednesday following the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the constitutionality of an 1864 statute that outlawed abortions save in cases where a patient’s life was in danger. The outgoing president declared that the decision in Arizona was excessive and expressed confidence that “it will be straightened out.”

In light of the 2024 election, Trump’s remarks demonstrate how abortion has changed the electoral environment. Republicans across have been forced to defend their positions on severe abortion restrictions, like those in Florida, and an Alabama court ruling holding that frozen embryos are children in recent months.

Abortion is being used by Democrats in important battleground states like Arizona to increase voter turnout ahead of the election, and President Joe Biden’s team intends to exploit the issue to help transform Florida back into a purple state.

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According to Staver, Trump’s remarks have harmed Liberty and other anti-abortion organizations’ attempts to prevent Florida’s ballot proposal from passing.

Staver stated of Trump, “I think he needs to think a little bit more in-depth before he makes these off-the-cuff statements because what that will do is not accomplish anything.” “It accomplishes the exact opposite,”

Abortion rights transcend party lines, according to state Senate Democratic Leader Lauren Book, who has backed the ballot proposal drive since it started a year ago. That is required in Florida, where the ballot measure must receive 60% of the vote to pass. Republicans are approximately 900,000 more likely than Democrats to be registered voters, thus proponents of Amendment 4 will probably require backing from both parties.

The book stated, “I may not agree with Donald Trump on much, but we can both read the tea leaves on voter support for Amendment 4.”

One of the biggest anti-abortion organizations in the nation, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, is attempting to thwart the abortion referendum. The group’s director of state affairs, Kelsey Pritchard, told POLITICO in a statement that while her group will not disclose specifics, the initiative’s need for 60 percent of the vote presents a substantial obstacle.

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“In the red state of Florida, where Gov. DeSantis won by a landslide in 2022 and the majority of citizens support the heartbeat protection, abortion activists will find it difficult to achieve that level of support given their failure to win 60 percent of the vote in the purple states of Michigan and Ohio,” Pritchard wrote.

According to Staver, the April 1 Florida Supreme Court ruling permitted anti-abortion organizations to invoke the personhood argument because of the state Constitution’s Declaration of Rights, which provides rights to “all natural persons.” In the April 1 opinion, three of the seven justices stated that the court has not yet determined whether fetuses are included.

Conservative Justice Jamie Grosshans stated in a dissenting opinion that the court has not addressed the question of whether fetuses should have rights.

Grosshans remarked, “Even though the court has not taken any action on the matter, our silence should not eliminate a citizen’s right to be informed.” “The voter, if informed of the conflict, could discern for themselves that an amendment granting broad protection for abortion would impact the unborn child’s constitutional personhood rights at some point.”