When it Comes to Abortion, All Eyes Turn to Florida

It looks like abortion will now be a tale told in 50 chapters. With the voters of Kansas refusing to amend their constitution to allow for the banning of abortion and Indiana adopting one of America’s strictest new prohibitions, all eyes now turn to the Sunshine State.Florida, a battleground that is home to the two leading contenders for the Republican nomination for the White House — President Trump and Governor DeSantis — is set to be a crucial arena for this next chapter of America’s long running legal battle.Another shot in that controversy was fired last week, when Mr. DeSantis suspended the state attorney for Hillsborough County, Andrew Warren, who had publicly vowed not to prosecute people who “seek, provide, or support abortions.” The Governor accused Mr. Warren of putting himself “publicly above the law” and violating his “oath of office.”Mr. Warren has accused Mr. DeSantis of “illegal overreach,” but when it comes to abortion, the contours of the law in his state are in flux. Florida currently bans abortion after 15 weeks, except when necessary to save the pregnant woman’s life or prevent serious injury or when the fetus has a fatal abnormality.The law, known as House Bill 5, was signed into law this spring. It does not provide exceptions for rape or incest. It has been challenged in court. In June, a Leon County circuit judge, John Cooper, ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood, holding that the ban was “unconstitutional in that it violates the privacy provision of the Florida Constitution.”That amendment was passed in 1980, and reads “Every natural person has the right to be let alone and free from governmental intrusion into the person’s private life except as otherwise provided herein.” Florida courts have held that this amendment implicates a “woman’s decision of whether or not to continue her pregnancy,” in effect finding a right to an abortion even though the word is not found in the state’s governing parchment. The decision to reject the abortion ban on this basis was appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals by Florida’s attorney general, Ashley Moody, and under state rules of procedure that maneuever means that the law banning abortion will stay in effect until the court of appeals deigns to rule on the matter. Planned Parenthood has in turn appealed that status quo. The importance of the issue is highlighted by Mrs. Moody filing a request directly to the Supreme Court for an expedited hearing. The filing argues that the case raises “questions of exceptional public importance that warrant immediate resolution by the Florida Supreme Court.”In articulating the state’s argument, Mrs. Moody leans heavily on the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which found no constitutional right to an abortion, rejecting the notion that the procedure “is an integral part of a broader entrenched right,” like the right to privacy.In response, Planned Parenthood objected that “Floridians’ right to abortion is rooted in the privacy clause in the Florida Constitution — a clause, adopted in 1980, that has no analogue in the federal Constitution and therefore is entirely unaffected by Dobbs.” Mrs. Moody, who previously served as a law professor, is running for reelection this fall, although she is unopposed in the Republican primary. Mr. DeSantis is up for reelection as well. They appeared together to announce Mr. Warren’s suspension. The Associated Press cites a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report finding that about two percent of the nearly 72,000 abortions reported in Florida in 2019, before the current regime went into effect, were performed after 15 weeks.

When it Comes to Abortion, All Eyes Turn to Florida

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