Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis departs after speaking at a Concerned Women for America Summit on Sept. 15, 2023.via Associated PressFlorida’s state Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the state constitution does not protect abortion care ― declaring the state’s current 15-week ban constitutional and giving the go-ahead for a six-week ban to take effect in 30 days.Advertisement
Pro-choice groups and abortion providers filed suit against the state in 2022 after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the 15-week ban into effect. The state Supreme Court, which DeSantis has stacked with conservative judges in recent years, agreed to hear arguments in the case last year but allowed the 15-week ban to stay in effect during that time.Oral arguments in the lawsuit, brought by Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and other parties, were heard in September.“Abortion has been a recognized right in Florida for decades,” Whitney White, an ACLU staff attorney, said during oral arguments. “There’s no basis in the text to exclude a decision so personal and so private as whether to continue a pregnancy.”Last year, the state legislature passed a six-week abortion ban that includes exceptions for rape, incest or human trafficking, but only through the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. In order to get an abortion, the survivor “must provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation” to prove she was a victim of rape or incest, according to the bill.Advertisement
The six-week ban also includes an exception for the life of the pregnant person if two physicians certify in writing that the woman will die if she continues the pregnancy. Several Democrats have criticized the two-physician requirement, however, citing a lack of doctors in rural areas that could hinder women from receiving lifesaving care.The six-week abortion ban is now set to take effect a month from April 1. The legislation, which DeSantis signed in a closed ceremony in the dark of night, not only bans abortion after six weeks ― a point at which most people don’t even realize they’re pregnant ― but also prohibits telehealth for abortion care and allots $25 million annually to support deceptive anti-abortion pregnancy centers.Plaintiffs in the suit argued that the privacy clause in Florida’s constitution provides broad protections for privacy rights, including the right to get an abortion. But the state argued that the clause, which was adopted in 1980 via voter referendum, was not explicitly meant to protect abortion care, but rather to cover information privacy in such matters as personal records.“This is a 50-year reflection by our society, by our state, that people’s elected representatives believe that there’s a compelling interest in protecting human life. Why should we as a court not defer to that?” Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz asked White during oral arguments, implying that the protection to abortion care was not explicitly included in the privacy clause.The 15-week abortion ban, which has stayed in effect during legal battles, includes no exceptions for rape or incest, and only allows exceptions if the pregnant person is at risk of serious injury or death when the fetus has a fatal abnormality. But as HuffPost’s Sara Boboltz has reported, lifesaving exceptions in abortion bans often don’t work in practice. And there have been multiple instances where Floridian women’s lives were put at risk because they were denied care.Advertisement …
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Pro-choice groups and abortion providers filed suit against the state in 2022 after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed the 15-week ban into effect. The state Supreme Court, which DeSantis has stacked with conservative judges in recent years, agreed to hear arguments in the case last year but allowed the 15-week ban to stay in effect during that time.Oral arguments in the lawsuit, brought by Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and other parties, were heard in September.“Abortion has been a recognized right in Florida for decades,” Whitney White, an ACLU staff attorney, said during oral arguments. “There’s no basis in the text to exclude a decision so personal and so private as whether to continue a pregnancy.”Last year, the state legislature passed a six-week abortion ban that includes exceptions for rape, incest or human trafficking, but only through the first 15 weeks of pregnancy. In order to get an abortion, the survivor “must provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation” to prove she was a victim of rape or incest, according to the bill.Advertisement
The six-week ban also includes an exception for the life of the pregnant person if two physicians certify in writing that the woman will die if she continues the pregnancy. Several Democrats have criticized the two-physician requirement, however, citing a lack of doctors in rural areas that could hinder women from receiving lifesaving care.The six-week abortion ban is now set to take effect a month from April 1. The legislation, which DeSantis signed in a closed ceremony in the dark of night, not only bans abortion after six weeks ― a point at which most people don’t even realize they’re pregnant ― but also prohibits telehealth for abortion care and allots $25 million annually to support deceptive anti-abortion pregnancy centers.Plaintiffs in the suit argued that the privacy clause in Florida’s constitution provides broad protections for privacy rights, including the right to get an abortion. But the state argued that the clause, which was adopted in 1980 via voter referendum, was not explicitly meant to protect abortion care, but rather to cover information privacy in such matters as personal records.“This is a 50-year reflection by our society, by our state, that people’s elected representatives believe that there’s a compelling interest in protecting human life. Why should we as a court not defer to that?” Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz asked White during oral arguments, implying that the protection to abortion care was not explicitly included in the privacy clause.The 15-week abortion ban, which has stayed in effect during legal battles, includes no exceptions for rape or incest, and only allows exceptions if the pregnant person is at risk of serious injury or death when the fetus has a fatal abnormality. But as HuffPost’s Sara Boboltz has reported, lifesaving exceptions in abortion bans often don’t work in practice. And there have been multiple instances where Floridian women’s lives were put at risk because they were denied care.Advertisement …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]