TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The office of Florida’s attorney general asked the state Supreme Court to keep an abortion-rights measure off November’s ballot on Wednesday, saying it misleads voters and could be used to expand abortion rights in the future.
Proponents of the proposed amendment say the language is clear and concise and that Attorney General Ashley Moody is playing politics instead of letting voters decide whether to protect access to abortions. The case will be a test on whether Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who appointed five of the seven judges, has changed the direction of a court that in past years has interpreted a privacy clause in the state constitution to strike down some abortion restrictions.
“It (the proposed amendment) is affirmatively misleading because it tells voters something about the amendment that is literally untrue. It promises that after the amendment, no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion,” said Nathan Forrester on Moody’s behalf. “...This amendment is actually very, very broad. It’s unambiguously broad. I don’t think the ballot summary adequately discloses that potentiality.”
Courtney Brewer, an attorney representing Floridians Protecting Freedom, said Wednesday that a reasonable voter would have all the fair notice they need because the language of the amendment and its summary are the same.
“Nearly a million Floridians and counting have made it clear they want to vote on the amendment before this court. This amendment follows the directive given by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs that the people should decide how their state may govern abortion,” Brewer said. “...I think the voters are perfectly capable of reading this language and understanding it and would understand the ins and outs of it.”
The proposed amendment would allow abortions to remain legal until the fetus is viable. Moody has argued that abortion rights proponents and opponents have differing interpretations as to what viability means. Those differences along with the failure to define “health” and “health-care provider,” are enough to deceive voters and potentially open a box of legal questions in the future, she previously told the court.
Matt Staver, chairperson of the religious Liberty Counsel organization, said the amendment was doomed by the following four words: “No law shall restrict.”
“This amendment says ‘No law shall restrict,’ in addition to the other prohibitions,” Staver said. “...It’s a total abolition of all the functions of the government in regards to the issue of abortion. For those reasons, we respectfully request this court not approve it for the ballot.”
The arguments come as both sides of the abortion debate wait for the Florida Supreme Court to rule on whether to uphold a 15-week abortion ban passed two years ago. Last year, lawmakers went further and passed a ban at six weeks, which is before many women even know they are pregnant, but it won't take effect if the court throws out the 2022 ban signed by DeSantis.
If the question is allowed on the ballot, 60% of voters would have to approve it. No decision was expected Wednesday.
Any change in abortion access in Florida would be felt out of state as well because the Sunshine State traditionally has been a haven for women in the southeastern U.S. seeking abortions. Nearby Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi have bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, and Georgia has a ban on terminating pregnancies after cardiac activity can be detected.
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