 "A strict six-week abortion ban is now in place in Florida. Image used for representational purpose/AP")
As the results pour in for the 2024 US presidential election, the state of Florida’s abortion rights fell short of passing on Tuesday. This left in place a six-week abortion ban which even former US President Donald Trump called a harsh measure.
The defeat of the measure is a significant victory for Flordia Governor Ron DeSantis who actively opposed the passing of the initiative. With this, Florida became the first state to defeat an abortion rights amendment since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
It is pertinent to note that the abortion rights measure needed a 60 per cent supermajority to pass which was already considered as the highest threshold in the country. As of now, no abortion measure to date has been passed with 60 per cent of the vote.
Access to abortion becomes harder in Florida
Florida was one of the 10 states which were voting on abortion-related ballot measures on Tuesday. While Florida needed a supermajority, the state needed a simple majority to pass.
In the past, Florida previously had a 15-week ban, but the six-week ban took effect in May this year. The state’s ban has effectively shut off abortion access in the South, where neighbouring states already enforce near-total abortion bans or severe restrictions. Abortion rights advocates were hoping to change that as they spent a whopping $100 million on the effort.
The amendment which failed to be passed in Florida aimed to enshrine protection for abortion up to the point of fetal viability (about 24 weeks) into the state constitution, preventing the state from passing laws to “prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion” until that point, The Hill reported.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsEarlier this year, the state attorney general tried to stop the measure from qualifying for the ballot, arguing that the language was “misleading”. Not only this but in September, the state agency in charge of running Florida’s Medicaid program launched a website attacking the amendment. At least three public agencies have aired television and radio ads against the measure.
With inputs from agencies.