Abortion access is on the ballot in Florida. So are two justices who voted against it

During the Republican presidential debate in Miami last November following a successful Ohio abortion referendum, Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked how he saw a “path forward for Republicans on this issue.”

DeSantis framed his response through the story of Jamaican-American Justice Renatha Francis, whom he appointed to the Florida Supreme Court in August 2022.

When pregnant with Francis, her mother, DeSantis said, was “counseled to not have a baby because she was poor … and she came close to having an abortion but she decided to have the baby … That baby girl ended up immigrating to the state of Florida, becoming a lawyer and a judge, and I appointed her to the Florida Supreme Court.”

Flash forward to Monday, the conservative-leaning Florida Supreme Court, with Francis and two other justices dissenting, approved a ballot amendment for November that will put the abortion question directly to voters.

Coincidentally, Francis and the question of abortion access will be on the same ballot, with voters deciding whether to allow her to remain on the state Supreme Court following her appointment by DeSantis.

In Florida, it’s standard for Supreme Court justices to face a retention vote shortly after their appointment, and no Supreme Court justice has ever been voted out, which requires only a simple majority. But Francis and Justice Meredith Sasso — who along with Justice Jamie Grosshans dissented in the 4 - 3 decision — have the unique distinction of sharing a ballot with a polarizing and high-profile constitutional amendment they wanted to keep from the electorate.

They also voted Monday to uphold the state’s 15-week abortion ban in a 6 - 1 decision that clears the way for a stricter 6-week ban to kick in next month.

Will their positions on abortion hurt them?

Sen. Geraldine Thompson, an Orlando Democrat who managed to block DeSantis’ first appointment of Francis in 2020 over issues related to her qualifications at the time, said in a statement Tuesday that neither Francis nor Sasso should be retained by voters in November.

Thompson said Francis “came to the Florida Supreme Court firmly wedded to a political position” and as “voters consider retention of Justices in November, they should understand that not everyone on the Supreme Court comes with the ability to be open minded and objective.”

Francis and Sasso said Tuesday through the court’s spokesperson, Paul Flemming, that they were unable to comment on their dissent. Separate litigation centered on the state’s 15-week ban “could be subject to a motion for rehearing and ethics rules preclude the justices from commenting publicly on matters that are, or may be, before them.”

No sign of a campaign coming

With an election, anything is possible. But the statewide coalition of six groups, Floridians Protecting Freedom, pushing for passage of the amendment and planning to spend at least $60 million educating voters about it isn’t planning to focus their efforts on the justices.

There’s simply too much else to worry about considering Florida will have a six-week ban on abortions come May, said Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition Executive Director Anna Hochkammer on Tuesday. Her group is one of the six that make up the coalition.

“When it comes to abortion in Florida, this is a triage scenario,” said Hochkammer, who is also a Village of Pinecrest councilwoman in South Florida. “So, I’m not going to say that it’s not important … I’m just going to say that when I triage out how I’m going to spend my time and focus my energy, it’s not there, at least not right now. We have bigger problems to deal with.”

Hochkammer said she hadn’t heard chatter about any other group targeting the justices, either.

ACLU Florida is also part of the Floridians Protecting Freedom campaign on Amendment 4, the Right to Abortion Initiative. Their staff attorney, Nicholas Warren, made a similar statement to the Herald/Times on Tuesday.

“Independent of how certain justices ruled, the Court recognized Floridians have the ability — and the right — to decide for themselves whether they want politicians to continue interfering with abortion access,” Warren said. “Our focus now is to make sure the Yes on 4 campaign continues to grow and reproductive freedom in Florida is protected.”

Herald/Times Tallahassee bureau reporter Romy Ellenbogen contributed to this report.