Volusia, Flagler react to Florida Supreme Court rulings on abortion, marijuana amendments

Voters will get to enshrine wider access to abortion and recreational marijuana in the state constitution, after the Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday that proposals for each meet the standards to be placed on the Nov. 5 ballot.

Volusia and Flagler County residents supportive of the abortion measure, which will be Amendment 4, were celebrating Monday night, while opponents said they will work to defeat it. Passage of a constitutional amendment requires 60% of the votes.

"My reaction is: 'Yay!'" said Jewel Dickson, chair of the Volusia County Democrats. She expects both measures will result in higher turnout.

She said the abortion question has bipartisan appeal, but added: "I think this will help Democrats."

Flagler County Democratic Chair Janet Sullivan said she believed the abortion petition met the state's qualifications to land on the ballot, but there remained some uncertainty about what the court would do. In the end, it was a 4-3 vote Supreme Court vote.

"I'm thrilled beyond belief and kind of shocked the Surpeme Court approved it. They should have, as they are only supposed to vote based on the language, but we know the makeup of the court. I was hoping they might not rely on their partisan leanings."

She expects the abortion access question to pass in November because it has wide support.

"It's not just women. It's not just people of a certain party. It's not just Democrats. It's not just young women," she said. "There's a whole bunch of people in Florida who believe in this."

A University of North Florida poll of 716 registered Florida voters in November indicated both measures were likely to pass, with 62% of respondents saying they would support a constitutional change guaranteeing access to abortion, while 67% said they would vote in favor of legalizing recreational marijuana.

Renner: Measure pushed by extreme 'abortion activists'

Floridians Protecting Freedom, Inc., spent more than $15 million to gather enough signatures and begin a campaign supporting the abortion access initiative.

House Speaker Paul Renner, a Republican from Palm Coast, dubbed the group "abortion activists" whose proposal is extreme.

"Amendment 4 would make FL’s abortion laws more liberal than countries throughout Europe and eliminate existing laws that most people on both sides of the abortion issue agree on ― like parental consent for minors and any restrictions on late-term abortions," Renner wote in a post on X. "We are confident that when the people of Florida learn what this amendment does, they will vote NO on Amendment 4."

The Volusia County Republican Executive Committee emailed members a message Monday stating: "They say it's about women's health. But half of all babies are women."

Activists: Petition gatherers, signers eager for abortion protections

Two Volusia County residents who were involved in the effort to gather signatures for the abortion amendment said it was a team effort made easier by the support both volunteers and petition signers showed.

DeLand resident Judith Southard, 82, and her daughter Suzanne led efforts in Volusia County to gather signatures, but said many organizations worked together to make it happen.

“We know there are always people who are against it, but we also know that it’s an important point for women to have control over their bodies,” she said. “Bodily autonomy. That’s what it’s all about.”

The Southards are members of the National Organization for Women, but said other groups including the League of Women Voters, Unitarian churches, Jewish synagogues, Democratic Party clubs and others all contributed.

Travis Henville, a Daytona Beach progressive activist, said he has done the "grunt work" of gathering signatures for other constitutional amendment initiatves before, but none resonated like this one with the people he approached.

"It's hard to be out in the Florida summer ― it's almost always in summer and fall when we're flagging strangers down left and right and asking for a moment of their time ― but some people were very energized and very animated in a way that I have never seen. ... There was a lot of anger. People were very supportive of access to abortion. They were definitely wanting to do something about it."

Campaign to legalize recreational marijuana

The question of legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Florida will be Amendment 3 on the November ballot.

It would allow adults 21 and over to buy and possess up to 3 ounces of cannabis for personal use, with a 5-gram cap on marijuana concentrates. It would also allow medical marijuana dispensaries ― and other retailers as approved by the Legislature ― to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell and distribute marijuana products and accessories to adults.

Smart & Safe Florida, a political committee, funded the cannabis legalization campaign with more than $40 million, most of it from Truelieve Inc., which dispenses medical marijuana throughout the state.

That money helped support a campaign to collect 891,523 signatures, or 8% of the total number of votes in the last presidential election, to qualify for the ballot, but Supreme Court review was also required. As she did with the abortion-access petition, Attorney General Ashley Moody filed an objection.

She cited the federal ban on marijuana, claiming voters would be confused by two contrasting sets of laws.

Henville, who is also a supporter of legalizing marijuana, said a lot of advocates were concerned about the slow deliberation by the court in reaching its decisions. The Supreme Court unveiled its rulings at 4 p.m. on Monday, the constitutional deadline.

He predicted that like the abortion question, Amendment 3 will also lure more people to vote.

"It isn't a partisan reason as much as it is a demographic one," he said. "It will drive younger people to the polls."

Nonmedical Pot: DeSantis, Ashley Moody, voters: Who wants recreational marijuana in Florida and who doesn't?

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia, Flagler leaders react to abortion access, marijuana on ballot