Florida Supreme Court approves abortion restriction — and ballot measure that would overturn it

The court paved the way for a six-week ban passed in 2023 to take effect.
By Mel Leonor Barclay, Shefali Luthra
April 1, 2024

The Florida Supreme Court struck down its state abortion protection — paving the way for a six-week ban passed in 2023 to take effect — but will allow voters to weigh in on whether they can amend the state’s constitution to explicitly enshrine abortion rights.

The court issued two separate rulings Monday: one upholding a 15-week abortion ban passed in 2022, and another approving an abortion rights ballot measure to go before voters this November. The measure — which will need the backing of 60 percent of voters to pass, the highest threshold in the country — would amend Florida’s constitution to explicitly guarantee abortion rights in the state to the point of fetal viability, which is determined by physicians but is usually around 22 to 25 weeks of pregnancy.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2024/04/florida-abortion-ban-ballot-measure/

USA – Conservatives move to keep abortion off the 2024 ballot

“We don’t believe those rights should be subjected to majority vote.”

by ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and MEGAN MESSERLY
12/18/2023

Conservatives are testing new tactics to keep abortion off the ballot following a series of high-profile defeats.

In Arizona, Florida, Nevada and other states, several anti-abortion groups are buying TV and digital ads, knocking on doors and holding events to persuade people against signing petitions to put the issue before voters in November.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/18/first-rule-of-the-anti-abortion-playbook-dont-let-the-public-vote-on-abortion-00132049

USA – Abortion rights groups seek ballot measures in 9 more states in 2024

Despite an unbroken winning streak since Roe v. Wade was overturned, some of the efforts to enshrine abortion rights in state constitutions face substantial challenges.

Nov. 22, 2023
By Adam Edelman

Seeking to extend their unbroken winning streak, abortion rights supporters are already deeply entrenched in efforts in at least nine states to put the issue on the ballot in 2024. Groups have begun collecting signatures to let voters in these states decide on similar initiatives.

The latest victory for the movement was in Ohio, where voters enshrined abortion rights in the constitution of the Republican-leaning state.

Continued: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/abortion-rights-groups-seek-ballot-measures-9-states-2024-rcna125177

How Republican Courts Could Sabotage the Ohio Abortion Vote and Future Ballot Measures

BY MARY ZIEGLER
NOV 09, 2023

After Ohio voted to enshrine reproductive care access in the state’s constitution on Tuesday, abortion rights supporters are now a perfect 7-for-7 in ballot initiative fights since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. Ohio has Republicans in control of all three branches of government, but the state’s voters still managed to approve a ballot initiative on reproductive rights. Meanwhile, abortion helped propel state lawmakers in Virginia to control of both chambers of the state Legislature—and fueled the reelection of Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear in Kentucky. Memes and tweets have circulated saying that if abortion were on the ballot in 2024 instead of Joe Biden, the race would be a done deal.

Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2023/11/republican-ohio-abortion-vote-florida-desantis.html

Voters in at Least 10 States Are Trying to Protect Abortion Rights. GOP Officials Are Throwing Up Roadblocks.

Republican officials are undermining citizen-led ballot initiatives that seek to protect the procedure. Ohio is the latest state to get protections on the November ballot.

by Cassandra Jaramillo
Oct. 24, 2023

In Ohio, a GOP-controlled agency rewrote language for a ballot measure that would guarantee access to abortion in the state constitution, swapping in new wording that opponents said was designed to confuse voters. In Missouri, a Republican official launched legal challenges that have stalled a citizen-led effort to pass a law guaranteeing reproductive health care. And in Michigan, a Republican lawmaker went one step further, introducing a bill that would undo a popular new access law.

In the year since Roe v. Wade was overturned, Gallup polling shows that a majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal, with two-thirds of those polled saying it should be permitted in the first trimester.

Continued: https://www.propublica.org/article/abortion-rights-ballot-initiatives-state-law