The Florida Supreme Court’s approval of a poll action maintains abortion activists ‘ preferred method of using hazy definitions of “health” to make abortion available on a limited basis.
Following the state Supreme Court’s decision on Monday that put the measure on the ballot, Florida voters may be faced with a vote measure in November that would permit abortion if it was determined that it was necessary to protect the patient’s wellbeing.
Amendment 4, the thus- called Amendment to Limit Government Interference With Abortion, is being pushed by a pro- pregnancy political committee, Citizens Protecting Freedom.
The plan’s vague description of “health” is comparable to that of the U. S. Supreme Court’s 1973 selection in Doe v. Bolton, which defined “health” of the family as” all components” affecting the girl.  ,
In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruled that state could simply issue requirements for second-trimester abortions for the purpose of safeguarding the “health” of the family that time. The since-overturned Roe, which made abortion illegal in the second month dependent on the existence of exceptions to guard the family’s living and “health,” allowed states to do so when the unborn child is worthwhile.
Doe v. Bolton, the lesser- known circumstance decided on the same day as Roe, defined the “health” of the mother as” all factors” that affect the woman, including “physical, mental, emotional, interpersonal, and the woman’s age”, greatly expanding the acceptable abortions legalized by Roe.  ,
Florida’s Amendment 4 similarly would prohibit restrictions on abortion when “necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider” . ,
The proposal would bypass state law that currently protects heartbeat-related unborn children. The Florida court upheld a state law that prevents unborn children from most abortions after 15 weeks, enabling a six-week abortion ban approved last year to go into effect on May 1. The same day, the Florida court upheld the ballot initiative. Republican Gov. The six-week ban was approved by Ron DeSantis in April, but it was only effective for a maximum of 15 weeks if the state Supreme Court overturned its legal objections.  ,
The amendment’s constitution would likely allow for abortion at any stage of pregnancy if anyone who claims medical expertise claims that the mother would gain from it physically, emotionally, or otherwise because the text of the amendment does not define “health” or “health care provider.”  ,
A health care provider is defined by Florida statutes as” a physician licensed under chapter 458, an osteopathic physician licensed under chapter 459, a podiatric physician licensed under chapter 461, or an advanced practice registered nurse registered under 464.0123.” If it receives 60 % of the vote in November, the ballot initiative would allow any doctor, osteopath, podiatrist, or nurse to determine if a woman’s health could in any way benefit from ending the life of her unborn child.  ,
In a November 2022 ballot initiative, Michigan voters legalized abortion up until birth with similarly ambiguous language. Proposal 3 prohibited laws against abortion if a “health care professional” deemed it to be “medically needed to protect a patient’s life or physical or mental health”.
Broad and ambiguous definitions of health have led to the unborn for 50 years following Doe v. Bolton and the end of thousands of lives in Michigan as a result of Proposal 3.  ,
Florida voters will have a chance in November to stop another hazy definition of health from making the Sunshine State the most pro-choice state in the South from one of the states with the most protections for the unborn.  ,
