Florida’s Abortion Amendment May Set Precedent for National Debate

As state amendments continue to go the way of the pro-abortion movement, Florida could become the first state to strike down a proposal that would protect the procedure in the state’s constitution.

Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court allowed the state’s 15-week abortion ban to take effect while at the same time, allowing a pro-abortion amendment to be voted on in November. If passed, the amendment would alter the Florida Constitution to include the provision, “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 health care provider.”

Speaking to the Catholic News Agency (CNA), Kelsey Pritchard, director of state public affairs for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, stated, “It’s critically important that we win Florida.”

Florida, the third-most populated state in the country, could reset the victory column for the anti-abortion movement. Since the Supreme Court ended the federal right to an abortion in June 2022, each time an amendment has been brought to a statewide election, voters have opted to keep abortion legal. Ohio, Michigan, and Kansas have seen the pro-abortion side come out on top, but Florida will present a more challenging task.

Although many states only needed a simple majority to enact ballot measures, Florida requires a 60% threshold to add an amendment to the state’s constitution.

“If we win Florida,” Pritchard said, “I think it can really turn the tide on these ballot measure fights.”

Democrats also see Florida as a key state for what they consider a top campaign issue in November.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., declared Florida “ground zero” in the abortion debate saying, “An extreme group of individuals in this state, led by the current governor, are prepared by almost any means to jam their radical right-wing ideology down the throats of the people of this state as part of an effort to try to impose a nationwide abortion ban.”

“But we can stop them. We must stop them, and we will stop them together,” Jeffries said.

Former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has attempted to clarify his stance on abortion, saying the issue belongs to the states to decide.

“My view is now that we have abortion where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both. And whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state,” he said in a video posted April 8 on Truth Social.