Florida Wednesday November 29, 2023: Organizers of the initiative to get a reproductive rights amendment on the ballot in next years’ election are confident they’ll get enough signatures, and confident they’ll overcome the Attorney Generals objections to the wording.
If approved, the amendment would not change the current state law requiring that parents be notified before a minor has an abortion, says Laura Goodhue the Executive Director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates.
Goodhue also sits on the Executive Committee of the Floridians Protecting Freedom campaign which is trying to get the proposed amendment to the Florida State Constitution on the ballot in next year’s election.
The wording is brief and to the point: “No law 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 healthcare provider.”
As required, the Florida Supreme Court is now reviewing the ballot language to make sure it is not misleading and applies to a single subject. They have not yet ruled on Attorney General Ashley Moody's request to reject the petition and not place it on the ballot because the word 'viability' could create uncertainty.
Goodhue counters that "viability is defined already in Florida statute." She called Moody's objection "just more political interference" and she pointed out that Moody, in her objection, told the high court that she was pro-life and that she was just expressing her personal opinion. Goodhue accused the AG of "interfering with the people’s right to decide this issue for themselves.”
To date the campaign has collected over 500-thousand signatures. They need 891-thousand. “We’re very confident that we’ll make it," said Goodhue. "I think the enthusiasm since we launched last May has just been all over the place, especially in the area of the Treasure Coast.”
The state has to finish validating all the signatures by February 1st of next year, so that means organizers have to submit enough signatures ahead of that date to give the state enough time to validate them.
The petition can be downloaded at: floridiansprotectingfreedom.com.