Florida voters reject abortion rights amendment
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Anti-abortion activists protest near an Orlando, Fla., rally. Photo: Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images
Florida voters narrowly rejected a ballot measure to enshrine the right to an abortion in the state constitution, according to the Associated Press.
Why it matters: A ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy will remain the law of the land. After that cutoff, the procedure will be illegal aside from a narrow set of exceptions.
State of play: The result is a major victory for opponents of abortion access, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, who took the extraordinary step of using state resources to sow doubt over the amendment.
- It deals a blow to abortion access advocates in and out of the state who say abortion bans hurt women and stymie doctors from performing necessary medical care.
- To pass, 60% of voters needed to vote yes on Amendment 4, but it fell short of that threshold.
Catch up quick: Florida, once a haven for abortion access in the South, is one of many states that passed restrictive measures before and after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
- In April of that year, DeSantis signed into law a 15-week abortion ban that abortion rights advocates soon challenged in court.
- They argued the ban violated a 30-year-old right to privacy in the state constitution that Florida Supreme Court justices had twice ruled applied to abortion access.
- As the lawsuit played out, DeSantis and Republican lawmakers passed a six-week ban that would go into effect only if justices upheld the 15-week restriction and reinterpreted the right to privacy.
Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates began collecting signatures to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot as a last-ditch effort to restore abortion access.
- In April this year, Florida justices upheld the 15-week ban, paving the way for the six-week ban to go into effect.
- Justices also approved the ballot language for Amendment 4, setting up the high-stakes election that played out Tuesday.