Passidomo added that she isn’t instantly concerned with lawmakers who’re discussing a harder ban. She was a part of a failed bipartisan effort throughout the final legislative session to influence House and Senate Republican leaders to incorporate rape and incest exemptions in its 15 week ban.
Democrats, who now have superminority standing in the House and Senate, don’t have any capability to cease Republican lawmakers from proscribing abortions in the state. They can’t even use legislative guidelines or administrative maneuvers to delay Republicans from approving laws.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, who received reelection Tuesday evening by a virtually 20 level margin, beforehand mentioned he helps proscribing abortion past the present regulation. After the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade over the summer time, the governor vowed broaden “pro-life protections” however offered no particulars.
During an Oct. 24 debate with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, DeSantis mentioned he would assist a harder ban.
“Not everyone is born into perfect circumstances, but I would like to see everybody have a shot,” DeSantis mentioned. “I’m proud of the 15 weeks we did.”
Tuesday’s election confirmed that abortion protections played an outsize role in the 2022 midterms, the first elections since the Supreme Court struck down Roe. Five states had poll initiatives on reproductive rights, together with Kentucky, the place voters rejected an anti-abortion constitutional modification in the deep pink state.
Last yr, the GOP-led Florida Legislature authorized a 15-week ban on abortions with out exceptions forward of the Supreme Court’s ruling that eroded abortion protections enshrined in Roe v. Wade. It was one among the most contested fights throughout the previous legislative session, with protesters demonstrating at the Capitol and in most main cities.
Abortion rights teams promptly sued the state to cease the state ban from taking impact in July. Plaintiffs are actually ready for the Florida Supreme Court to just accept or deny the authorized problem. The regulation presently stays in impact.
The plaintiffs, together with Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights, argue the 15-week ban violates a privateness proper in the state Constitution. That clause has been cited in the previous to disclaim Florida from further proscribing abortion. But state attorneys who’re defending the 15-week ban argued the privateness proper was now not relevant after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe.
The present state Supreme Court can also be dominated by conservatives, together with three appointed by DeSantis, and will interpret the privateness clause in a different way from earlier justices.
A good state excessive court docket ruling on the 15-week ban would give Republican lawmakers a chance to approve a whole abortion ban. But Passidomo and incoming House Speaker-designate Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast) haven’t expressed assist for a complete prohibition on abortions.
Renner didn’t reply to a request for remark. House spokesperson Andres Malave mentioned Renner’s place hasn’t modified since May, when he mentioned it’s as much as the 160-member state Legislature to resolve how you can go ahead on the abortion difficulty.
“Speaker-designate Renner will lead the chamber at the appropriate time in a sincere and robust discussion about the role Florida will play in protecting life,” Malave wrote in a textual content.
A probable sponsor for a stricter abortion ban is Vero Beach Republican Erin Grall, who sponsored the 15-week ban in the House. Grall, who has since received a seat in the state Senate, didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
Ninety-seven % of abortions carried out in Florida in 2020 occurred inside 12 weeks of being pregnant, in line with knowledge from the state Agency for Health Care Administration.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, an Orlando Democrat who beforehand labored for Planned Parenthood and helps abortion rights, doubted that Passidomo might embrace exceptions for rape and incest in any new abortion laws since she couldn’t get them into the present regulation.
“This is what I’ve been ringing alarm bells for months on,” Eskamani mentioned. “With [Democrats in] the superminority in both chambers, [Republicans] are going to push for the most extreme option because they feel like it’s a mandate.”
Eskamani mentioned one possibility for abortion rights teams is to start out a marketing campaign to position an initiative on abortion protections on the 2024 poll, just like what different states did throughout the 2022 election cycle.
“Those discussions are happening right now,” Eskamani mentioned. “I’m going to fight like hell and keep fighting like hell, but I need everyday people to help me understand the consequences here.”