Florida’s strict laws make Latin America a potential destination to get an abortion

WLRN 91.3 FM | By Helen Acevedo, Sergio R. Bustos
April 9, 2024

With the Florida Supreme Court upholding the state’s new stricter abortion ban, pregnant women in Florida — especially those in South Florida — may soon head to countries in Latin America, where several countries have legalized the procedure, a reproductive health expert told WLRN on Friday.

“We have something unique because we do have a population in South Florida that has a Latin American connection and that has cultural roots, family members and the language,” said Daniela Martins. “So it is very likely that we will see folks that do have that connection with Latin America now start to travel to Colombia, Mexico or Argentina for an abortion.”

Continued: https://www.wusf.org/politics-issues/2024-04-09/florida-strict-laws-six-week-ban-latin-america-potential-destination-get-abortion


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


Florida’s 6-week abortion ban ‘catastrophic for the region,’ activist says

Women in the Southeast may have to travel as far as Virginia for care.

By Nadine El-Bawab
April 4, 2024

Despite abortion being on the November ballot in Florida, pro-abortion groups say a six-week ban going into effect next month will have devastating consequences for women in the Southeast.

…Florida, despite its 15-week limit, has been a key point of access to women across the southeastern U.S. living in states that have ceased nearly all abortion services due to bans. At least 14 states have ceased nearly all abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, ending federal protections for abortion rights.

Continued: https://abcnews.go.com/US/floridas-6-week-abortion-ban-catastrophic-region-activist/story?id=108816318


Florida abortion providers brace for six-week ban: ‘Where are these 80,000 patients gonna go?’

In separate decision, state supreme court agrees to allow voters to decide on enshrining rights in constitution in November

Carter Sherman
Tue 2 Apr 2024

Florida, the last bastion of abortion access in the south-eastern United States, will ban abortion past six weeks of pregnancy starting next month, leaving abortion providers and their supporters in the state and across the country scrambling to deal with the fallout for patients.

On Monday, the Florida state supreme court upheld a 15-week abortion ban, a move that removed the barriers for a separate, six-week ban that takes effect on 1 May. In a separate ruling, the court also agreed to let Florida residents weigh in on the issue through a November ballot measure to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution – a decision that opens a new front in an election that is already sure to be dominated by abortion politics.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/02/florida-abortion-ban-six-weeks


The Giant Threat Lurking Behind Florida’s November Abortion Vote

BY MARK JOSEPH STERN
APRIL 02, 2024

The Florida Supreme Court seemed to offer a compromise Monday when it greenlit the state’s six-week abortion ban while simultaneously approving a ballot initiative that would, if enacted, create a constitutional right to reproductive freedom. And indeed, the court’s split decision offers hope that Floridians can reestablish their state as an abortion refuge in the South this November. But an ominous current lurked beneath the rulings: Six of the court’s seven justices appeared to endorse fetal personhood under the state constitution as it stands now, expressing support for—as one justice put it—“the unborn’s competing right to life” over the patient’s right to bodily autonomy. The majority’s rhetoric indicates that if the pro-choice amendment fails this fall, the Florida Supreme Court remains ready to grant fetuses and embryos a constitutional right to life that prohibits the Legislature from legalizing abortion in the future.

Continued: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/florida-november-abortion-vote-desantis.html


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/


Florida Supreme Court Rules on Abortion

The Court allows 6-week ban & for voters to decide in November

JESSICA VALENTI
APR 01, 2024

The Florida Supreme Court came down with two abortion rulings today, one good and one very, very bad.

The Ron DeSantis-packed Court ruled that privacy protections in the Florida constitution don’t apply to abortion—undoing decades of precedent. A response to a challenge against the state’s 15-week ban, this decision means that a newer, 6-week ban—one that DeSantis signed into law last April—will go automatically into effect within 30 days. As we know, a 6-week ban in practice is not that different from a total ban.

Continued: https://jessica.substack.com/p/breaking-florida-supreme-court-rules


Florida supreme court signals openness to abortion ban that would slash access

Five of seven justices on court were selected by Governor Ron DeSantis and decision would have ramifications across south-east

Carter Sherman and Ava Sasani
Fri 8 Sep 2023

In arguments in a case that could drastically limit abortion access in the south-eastern United States, the Florida supreme court on Friday seemed open to arguments to uphold a law that bans abortion past 15 weeks of pregnancy.

If the state’s high court upholds the 15-week ban under consideration, a separate, stricter law would take effect prohibiting abortion after six weeks, before many people know they are pregnant.

Continued: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/08/florida-abortion-ban-supreme-court