Florida’s Proposed Abortion Amendment
Bottom Line: The Heartbeat Protection Act, limiting abortions to six weeks with exceptions, was signed into law by Governor DeSantis last April. The law was set to take effect July 1st, however it still hasn’t due to outstanding legal challenges to 2022’s law limiting abortions in Florida to 15 weeks – largely without exceptions. The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments in that case last September, however they’ve yet to rule in that case. As a result, last year’s law has yet to take effect. If the state Supreme Court rules against the law, both the 15-week standard and last year’s 6-week limit would be thrown out. If the court rules in favor of the 15-week law from 2022 – last year’s 6-week limit would take effect 30 days after the ruling is decided. While the legal wrangling's over both laws play out in Florida’s court system, enter the proposed constitutional amendment, which if enacted would supersede the aforementioned laws – regardless of the eventual legal ruling.
Yesterday the Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments over the proposed constitutional amendment permitting abortions beyond the state’s current 15-week limit. The state of Florida is opposed to the proposed amendment while Planned Parenthood is backing it. The Florida Supreme Court will now decide whether to allow the proposed amendment as written on our ballots in November. Here’s what’s proposed:
Title: Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion
Ballot Summary: No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.
The way the proposal is written, if it were to be enacted, would likely extend legal abortions beyond the previous Roe standard of 20 weeks. According to a study by the National Institutes of Health, it is possible for 10% of fetuses to live outside the womb at 23 weeks, with 50% able to survive at 24 weeks and most fetuses surviving beyond 25 weeks. Those would be the timelines that would come into focus if this proposal is approved for voter consideration in November.