Florida’s Republican attorney general is asking the state Supreme Court to keep a proposed abortion rights amendment off the ballot.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody speaks at a news conference, Jan. 26, 2023, in Miami. Moody is asking the state Supreme Court to keep a proposed abortion rights amendment off the ballot, saying the “war” proponents are waging to protect the procedure is a “ticking time bomb” to expand rights again in future years. TALLAHASSEE, Fla.
A group called Floridians Protecting Freedom has gathered nearly 500,000 of the 891,523 voter signatures needed ahead of a Feb. 1 deadline for signatures to put the proposal on the 2024 ballot. The state Supreme Court would be tasked with ensuring the ballot language isn’t misleading and applies to a single subject if it goes before voters.
She said while prior court decisions have used viability as a term meaning whether the fetus can survive outside the womb, “others will understand ‘viability’ in the more traditional clinical sense — as referring to a pregnancy that, but for an abortion or other misfortune, will result in the child’s live birth.”“The proposed amendment is very clear and precise,” Democratic state Rep. Anna Eskamani said in a news release.