By: Trimmel Gomes
Florida voters will soon have the opportunity to
express their views on abortion rights at the ballot box.
After Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a law last year restricting
abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, the committee Floridians Protecting Freedom launched a
petition drive for what it calls a constitutional "Amendment to Limit Government
Interference with Abortion."
Sarah Parker, president of Women's Voices of Southwest Florida, part of a
coalition supporting the petition, said they were excited to receive notice
Friday from the Florida Department of State confirming they have successfully
secured the necessary number of valid signatures.
"Right now we are just elated to actually have a number," Parker
noted. "It sounds good too: 'Vote Yes on 4 in 2024.' We've got over
900,000 petitions and we're looking forward to the next steps, which is a
standard process of going to the Supreme Court, and we're confident."
The Florida Supreme Court will now weigh in on the acceptability of the wording
of the amendment. Attorney General Ashley Moody and other opponents have
already delivered objections. In October, Moody expressed concerns the language
could be an attempt to "hoodwink" voters, arguing the term
"viability" has multiple interpretations.
Confusion on the matter is likely to persist, given the actions of the
Republican-controlled Legislature, which not only approved additional abortion
restrictions, but also has more pending restrictions yet to take effect. The
implementation of a six-week limit hinges on the outcome of an ongoing legal
battle about a 15-week abortion limit passed in 2022. The resolution of the 15-week
case is also pending at the Florida Supreme Court.
Parker hopes voters will have the final say.
"It would mean to stop government interference with an abortion and health
care," Parker explained. "What we're doing is kind of taking it back
to the times before Dobbs got overturned, before Roe got overturned."
Part of the amendment language states, "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."
Content for this Post is provided by Florida News
Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.
Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project.
No comments:
Post a Comment