Florida will vote on abortion in November

Kelsey Dallas
·3 min read
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Liberty Counsel founder and Chairman Mathew Staver speaks to reporters in front of the Florida Supreme Court after telling justices a proposed amendment to protect abortion rights should be kept off the ballot on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, in Tallahassee, Fla. The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Monday, April 1, 2024, that the proposed amendment can appear on Florida ballots.

Florida voters will decide the future of abortion rights in their state after the Florida Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion to appear on the ballot in November.

Before then, the state’s new six-week abortion ban will take effect, and it will remain in place if the ballot measure fails.

Abortion in Florida

The Florida Supreme Court issued two separate abortion rulings on Monday.

  • One allows the state’s new abortion law, which bans abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, to take effect.

  • The other makes it possible for a proposed amendment to the state constitution to appear on ballots in November. Voters will decide on whether to update the constitution to add abortion rights protections.

If the ballot measure gets support from at least 60% of voters, the ruling on the abortion ban would become insignificant.

“The proposed amendment would bar restrictions on abortion before fetal viability, considered to be at about the 24th week of pregnancy. That means it would invalidate the six-week ban. It would also include exceptions past that point for ‘the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider,’” NBC News reported.

2024 election

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, voters in several states have voted to enshrine abortion rights into their state constitution.

For example, in November, Ohio voters approved an amendment that establishes a right to an abortion. It was one of several election day decisions that seemed to imply that the GOP should adjust its abortion-related strategy, according to ABC News.

That vote in Ohio and similar results elsewhere were on lawmakers’ minds Monday when the Florida Supreme Court rulings were handed down.

President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign reportedly sees Florida as winnable now, since Democratic and independent voters likely will be motivated to get out the vote to support abortion access, NBC News reported.

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, is trying to keep voters’ attention on immigration issues at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the The New York Times.

“Trump and other Republicans are trying to keep voters’ attention on the border as President Biden and Democrats ... grow more optimistic about their ability to center the campaign on abortion,” the article said.

Abortion at the Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court will also weigh in on abortion law this year.

The justices have already heard a case about whether a pill that’s used to induce abortion can remain widely available, and will soon hear one out of Idaho about the strictest types of abortion bans.

The Idaho case asks whether federal abortion protections outweigh state abortion bans when a pregnant woman’s life is in danger, as the Deseret News previously reported.

The Supreme Court’s decisions in these two cases is expected by the end of June.