The judge’s decision to defend Florida’s 2022 15- month abortion ban paves the way for a thereafter- passed 6- week abortion ban to taking effect.
In a decision that means a eventually passed six-week restrictions may soon take effect, the Florida Supreme Court on April 1 upheld the country’s 15-week abortion ban.
A fortnight after the 2022 legislation was upheld, a six-week ban was created as a result of the legislation passed in the 2023 legislative session.
The” Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” would make abortions before “fetal viability”, or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, a” constitutional right”.
The initiative’s text 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”.
” This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion”, it continues.
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Although there is n’t a consensus among experts regarding the nature of “fetal viability,” many believe it to be roughly 23 to 24 weeks after conception.
According to Florida state laws, ballot initiatives that require at least 60 % of the vote must pass.
Floridians Protecting Freedom, a” statewide campaign of allied organizations and concerned citizens working together to protect Floridians ‘ access to reproductive health care and defend the right to bodily autonomy,” is the organization sponsoring the 2024 ballot initiative.
The Epoch Times reached out to Floridians Protecting Freedom for comment, but it never received a response before its publication.
Florida Voice for the Unborn, a “grassroots lobbying group guided by faith in God’s only son, Jesus Christ,” is the organization that opposes the abortion-access initiative. It has previously spearheaded a “decline-to-sign” campaign throughout 2023 to encourage Floridians to vote “no” if the citizen initiative was approved for 2024 ballot access.
The Florida Supreme Court has made a profound deed in the state of Florida, saying that it has taken far too long to finally decide to uphold the 2022 legislatively passed 15-week abortion ban while today’s decision to compromise with the abortion industry came down to a compromise.
Prior to this, Mr. Shirvell previously stated in August 2023 that both the state Supreme Court’s approval of the ballot initiatives for abortion access and recreational marijuana would have a wide-ranging impact on Republican candidates who are down on the ballot.
According to Mr. Shirvell,” This is dangerous because it will encourage the pro-abortion side to speak out.”
The ballot initiative appears to have received a lot of support from Floridians as well. A poll released by the University of North Florida in November 2023 found that 62 percent of voters polled said they would vote “yes” for the amendment, while 29 percent said “no” and 9 percent said they “do n’t know” or “refuse” to answer.
Among Republicans polled, 53 percent said they would vote “yes” to enshrine abortion access in Florida’s state constitution, while 39 percent said they would vote “no”.
By contrast, 77 percent of Democrats polled expressed approval of the ballot initiative compared to 17 percent who expressed disapproval.
While Gov. The governor never made a comment on the abortion-access initiative, despite Ron DeSantis ‘ claim in January that he anticipated the state Supreme Court to approve the ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana.
According to Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried, Mr. Shirvell claimed in 2023 that he thought Democrats were putting both amendments on the same ballot to encourage voter participation.
” The adoption of the ballot measures fundamentally alters the demographics of who is targeted for turnout and who turns out .” This is going to be the tactic. We’re going to run on these issues that the electorate is interested in,” she said earlier this year.
Republicans, however, have a sizable 800,000-person voter registration advantage over Democrats in Florida, which has steadily increased since the GOP’s efforts to out-pace Democratic voter registration efforts in 2021 for the first time since the state started collecting registration data in 1972.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.  ,
