In a pair of significant decisions, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Monday to uphold a 15-week ban on abortion in the state, while also allowing a proposed amendment that would enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution to appear on the November ballot.
The conservative-leaning court’s decision on the 15-week ban also means that a six-week abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother, that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last year will take effect.
But the bench’s ruling to allow the constitutional amendment to appear on the ballot this fall means voters will have a chance in just seven months to undo those restrictions.
Republicans have made multiple moves over the nearly two years since the U.S Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade to restrict access to abortion.
In 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed a 15-week abortion ban passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature that was almost immediately challenged in court.
Then, in April 2023, just weeks before he announced his presidential campaign, he signed a six-week ban, which was also immediately challenged.
In reviewing the initial challenge to the 15-week ban, the state Supreme Court had said the six-week ban would remain blocked until the court ruled on the 15-week proposal.
In its ruling on the bans on Monday, the court’s justices wrote in a majority opinion, that, “Consistent with longstanding principles of judicial deference to legislative enactments, we conclude there is no basis under the Privacy Clause to invalidate” the 15-week statute.
They added that Planned Parenthood, the plaintiff in the case, “cannot overcome the presumption of constitutionality and is unable to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the 15-week ban is unconstitutional.”
As a result, the justices concluded, the “six-week ban will take effect in thirty days.”
At the same time, their ruling on the proposed amendment will allow Florida voters to effectively decide whether to keep the six-week ban in effect
In allowing the proposed amendment to appear in November, the justices embraced a straightforward interpretation of their responsibility under the law in approving ballot measures: Making sure the proposed language isn’t confusing, unclear or misleading and making sure it doesn’t cover more than one subject.