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Taking aim at what they call government interference in abortion decisions, a coalition of groups Monday formally began a drive to try to pass a constitutional amendment in 2024 to ensure abortion rights in Florida.
The announcement of the multimillion-dollar campaign comes after the Republican-controlled Legislature this spring approved a bill that would prevent abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.
The proposal, spearheaded by the newly formed political committee Floridians Protecting Freedom, will seek to ensure abortion rights up to fetal viability, which has generally been interpreted as about 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Kara Gross is with the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
“The legislature continues to pass bans on abortion in Florida that are restricting our ability to have our own freedom of decision making, with regard to the most personal medical decisions of our lives, " said Gross.
The Legislature last year approved a law to prevent abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
The new six-week limit is contingent on the outcome of a Florida Supreme Court case about the privacy clause in the Constitution.
Supporters of the new law, including House Speaker Paul Renner, say six weeks is about the time fetal heartbeats can be detected.
“If you’re looking for one big winner in this session, I believe it is children. We stood up for children and we defended childhood, " said Renner.
Along with the ACLU, the coalition supporting the proposed constitutional amendment includes groups such as Planned Parenthood, Florida Rising and Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida.
Backers of the proposed constitutional amendment will need to quickly ramp up to get it on the 2024 ballot. They face a February 1st deadline for submitting at least 891,523 valid petition signatures to the state. Also, they will need the Florida Supreme Court to sign off on the proposed ballot wording.
If the proposal reaches the ballot, the measure will need approval from 60 percent of voters to pass.