Florida PAC pushes petition for abortion to appear on 2024 ballot as 6-week ban looms
In 2024, Florida voters will cast ballots for president, federal and state legislators — and possibly a constitutional amendment that would safeguard abortion access throughout the Sunshine State.
Floridians Protecting Freedom, a political action committee, is spearheading a citizen-led ballot initiative titled the Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion. The proposed text reads:
“No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s health care provider.”
The campaign has received overwhelming support across political party lines since its launch in May, said Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, one of over 200 state, local and national organizations comprising the committee.
“If you don’t want to see government interference in your personal, private lives, about your rights to bodily autonomy, sign this petition to get it on the ballot,” Goodhue said. “This doesn’t decide the issue, it puts it before the voters for the voters to decide.”
Florida Rising, the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and the 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East union are among the other groups behind the committee. Over 100 medical doctors, physician assistants, registered nurses and other clinicians have signed a joint letter supporting the amendment and condemning government involvement in their administration of reproductive health care.
“We’re speaking up for the citizens of Florida. It’s a heavy lift, but it’s so important,” Goodhue said. “Florida is receiving, basically, refugees for reproductive rights from other states since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022.”
How would the abortion amendment get on Florida ballots?
At least 891,523 registered voters would have to sign the petition by Feb. 1 for the proposed amendment to appear on ballots in the general election on Nov. 5, 2024. No fewer than 222,881 would have to sign for it to qualify for fiscal and judicial impact reviews.
Floridians Protecting Freedom announced Aug. 15 it had collected over 600,000 signatures. However, Florida Division of Elections records accessed Sept. 1 showed fewer than 298,000 had been validated.
Signatures can’t come from just anywhere; a certain threshold is required in each of half of the state’s 28 congressional districts. None had reached the threshold for ballot placement as of Sept. 1. The state elections website said it is updated monthly but didn’t specify when the latest numbers were published.
District 8, which includes Brevard and Indian River counties and part of Orange County, had 5,598 of 36,943 required signatures. District 21, which includes Martin and St. Lucie counties and part of Palm Beach County, had reached 15,576 of 35,671.
Nineteen districts, including District 21, had met the threshold to trigger fiscal and judicial reviews. Meaning, the proposed amendment itself qualifies for review, and Secretary of State Cord Byrd must send it to the Financial Impact Estimating Conference. Byrd also is required to send it to Attorney General Ashley Moody, who then must forward it to the Florida Supreme Court.
Floridians Protecting Freedom plans to finish collecting signatures by Dec. 31 to allow time for verification. The committee also is aiming for more signatures than necessary, Goodhue said: 1.2 million.
Where does Florida stand on abortion?
The state’s tightening abortion restrictions were borne of the Treasure Coast. Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, sponsored the Heartbeat Protection Act, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in spring.
“We are proud to support life and family in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in an April 13 statement. “I applaud the Legislature for passing the Heartbeat Protection Act that expands pro-life protections and provides additional resources for young mothers and families.”
The act, also called Senate Bill 300: Pregnancy and Parenting Support, forbids the termination of a fetus beyond a gestational age of 6 weeks — often before pregnant people know they’re expecting.
Fetuses resulting from rape, incest or human trafficking may be aborted up to 15 weeks into pregnancy. However, the patient “must provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order or documentation providing evidence that she is obtaining the termination of pregnancy” under such circumstances.
“I firmly believe a life is a life, and that each and every life created carries great value and dignity and deserves to be protected,” Grall wrote in the April 15 issue of her newsletter, the Grall Report, adding, “Florida will now serve as a beacon of hope for those who understand that life is sacred and must be protected.”
But the six-week ban isn’t final. The constitutionality of Florida’s current 15-week ban — co-sponsored by then-Rep. Grall and approved by DeSantis last year — is still being debated.
The Florida Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments Sept. 8 in Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, et al. v. State of Florida, et al. The judiciary will determine whether the 15-week ban violates the state’s long-standing right-to-privacy clause:
“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.”
A ruling in favor of the 15-week ban would mean the six-week ban becomes law.
How do I sign the Florida abortion petition?
Visit FloridiansProtectingFreedom.com to fill out and print the petition in English, Spanish or Haitian Creole. Mail your completed form to Petition Collection, P.O. Box 4068, Sarasota, FL 34230.
You also may drop it off at one of these Treasure Coast petition hubs:
Democratic Executive Committee of Indian River County; 2345 14th Ave., Suite 7, Vero Beach; Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Vero Beach; 1590 27th Ave., Vero Beach; Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon
Planned Parenthood - Treasure Coast Health Center; 1696 S.E. Hillmoor Drive, Suite A, Port St. Lucie; Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
St. Lucie County Democrats; Starbucks, 1789 N.W. St. Lucie West Blvd., Port St. Lucie; Mondays from 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Martin County Hub; 727 S.W. 33rd St., Palm City; Thursdays from 2-6 p.m.
Lindsey Leake is TCPalm’s projects reporter. She has an M.A. in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in Journalism and Digital Storytelling from American University and a B.A. from Princeton University. Follow her on X @NewsyLindsey, Facebook @LindseyMLeake and Instagram @newsylindsey. Call her at 772-529-5378 or email her at lindsey.leake@tcpalm.com.
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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Floridians Protecting Freedom petitions for abortion vote in 2024
