Abortion Might Be a Winning Issue — Even in Florida

An architect of the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution speaks out.

By RYAN LIZZA
April 6, 2024

Abortion rights supporters have been on a hot winning streak in state ballot initiatives since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. Now here comes Florida.

The Florida Supreme Court issued a pair of decisions earlier this week that upheld a strict abortion ban in the state and also cleared the way for Amendment 4, a November referendum on whether to enshrine the right to abortion in the Florida Constitution.

Continued: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/04/06/abortion-rights-florida-anna-hochkammer-00150870

06.04.2024

Interviews/Podcasts

Amendment 4

Anna Hochkammer

constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights

Florida Supreme Court

Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition

The moment that electrified France – and could push forward abortion rights around the world

Some had grumbled it was mere politicking from Macron, yet enshrining the right to abortion felt like a rare moment of unity

Agnès Poirier
Wed 6 Mar 2024

There was little doubt that the French parliament would reach a majority on Monday, when it gathered in a special session to enshrine the right to abortion into its constitution. But even so, it was an electric moment. At the Palace of Versailles, big enough to host the 925 MPs and senators eligible to vote, the scene was set to the solemn drumming of the republican guard.

Broadcast live on every news channel and beamed on to a giant screen at the Paris Trocadéro, opposite the Eiffel Tower, French citizens watched as the national assembly’s first female president, Yaël Braun-Pivet, looking calm and focused, walked towards the packed chamber to declare the hearing open. Passing republican guards in full regalia, sabres drawn, forming a guard of honour, there was total silence as she made her entrance to make history, as France became the world’s first country to guarantee women’s rights to abortion.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/06/france-abortion-rights-emmanuel-macron

06.03.2024

News

abortion law reform

constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights

French lawmakers approve a bill that makes abortion a constitutional right

French lawmakers have overwhelmingly approved a bill to enshrine abortion rights in France’s constitution, making it the only country to explicitly guarantee a woman’s right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy

By BARBARA SURK and NICOLAS GARRIGA, Associated Press
March 4, 2024

PARIS -- French lawmakers on Monday overwhelmingly approved a bill to enshrine abortion rights in France's constitution, making it the only country to explicitly guarantee a woman’s right to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy.

The historic move was proposed by President Emmanuel Macron as a way to prevent the kind of rollback of abortion rights seen in the United States in recent years, and the vote during a special joint session of France's parliament drew a long standing ovation among lawmakers.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/french-lawmakers-gather-historic-vote-make-abortion-constitutional-107766852

04.03.2024

News

abortion law reform

constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights

Emmanual Macron

enshrining abortion rights in constitution

As France guarantees the right to abortion, other European countries look to expand access

France has become the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution and other Europeans wonder whether a rollback of rights like the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision could happen in their countries

By The Associated Press
March 4, 2024

PARIS -- As France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution, other Europeans look at the U.S. rollback of abortion access and wonder: Could that happen here?

Abortion is broadly legal across Europe, and governments have been gradually expanding abortion rights, with some exceptions. Women can access abortion in more than 40 European nations from Portugal to Russia, with varying rules on how late in a pregnancy it is allowed. Abortion is banned or tightly restricted in Poland and a handful of tiny countries.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/france-guarantees-abortion-european-countries-expand-access-107786090

04.03.2024

Commentary

constitutional amendment enshrining abortion rights

enshrining abortion rights in constitution

Missouri advocates launch campaign to restore abortion access in the state

It’s one of two ballot measure efforts to shore up abortion access in the first state to outlaw abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Grace Panetta, Political reporter
January 18, 2024

A coalition of abortion rights advocates in Missouri is formally launching a campaign to pass a constitutional amendment restoring a right to abortion, one of two ballot measure efforts in the state this year.

Missouri was the first state to outlaw abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 with a law that bans virtually all abortions and threatens physicians who defy the ban with felony charges. The ban has no exceptions for rape or incest, only for a threat to the patient’s health.

Continued: https://19thnews.org/2024/01/missouri-abortion-ballot-measure/

‘It was a wake-up call’: After Roe v. Wade, French lawmakers seek to enshrine abortion rights

By Maya Szaniecki and Claudia Colliva, CNN
Sat December 2, 2023

When the United States Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, French women were paying close attention. They watched with alarm as those across the Atlantic lost their long-standing right to abortion, seemingly overnight. What if France came next?

“It was a wake-up call for everyone,” French Senator Mélanie Vogel told CNN. “We don’t want to wake up like American women… with this right being taken from us,” she said.

Continued: https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/02/europe/us-overturn-of-roe-v-wade-prompts-france-to-embed-abortion-rights-in-constitution/index.html

Ohio voters just passed abortion protections. When and how they take effect is before the courts

BY JULIE CARR SMYTH
November 24, 2023

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s new constitutional protections for abortion access and other reproductive rights take effect Dec. 7, a month after voters resoundingly passed them. How and when their impacts are felt remains unclear.

Existing abortion-related lawsuits are moving again through the courts now that voters have decided the issue, raising questions about implementation.

Continued: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-ohio-constitutional-amendment-republicans-courts-fb1762537585350caeee589d68fe5a0d

USA – Abortion Wins Elections for Democrats. What Should Advocates Demand in Return?

How can this popularity translate into political power for a movement that is not accustomed to making bold demands of its political leaders?

AMY LITTLEFIELD
Nov 20, 2023

If abortion were a 2024 presidential candidate, it would wipe the floor with Donald Trump. On November 7, abortion helped Democrats take back the Virginia House, keep the Kentucky governorship, and secure a Pennsylvania Supreme Court seat. In Ohio, 57 percent of voters approved enshrining abortion access in the state Constitution; it was the seventh time abortion has faced a direct vote since Dobbs and the seventh time it’s won.

Abortion wins. Abortion rights activists have known this. Voters have often chosen to defend abortion when they get a direct vote, including in red states. What’s changed is that Democrats have finally started treating abortion like an issue they can win on—and in the wake of Dobbs, they’re doing just that.

Continued: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/abortion-democrats-elections/