In Nov., voters in three states—Florida, Maryland, and New York—will decide on ballot measures related to abortion.
Florida is the most recent state to join that list. While signatures were verified on Jan. 5, 2024, the state Supreme Court needed to review the initiative. On April 1, the court ruled that the initiative met the state’s requirements to appear on the ballot.
The court’s order on the ballot measure was released at the same time as a ruling on abortion laws in Florida. Justice Jamie Grosshans, writing the court’s opinion, said the state’s Privacy Clause, approved in 1980, did not include a right to abortion, which was a change from a previous ruling in 1989. Grosshans wrote, “We recede from our prior decisions in which — relying on reasoning the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected — we held that the Privacy Clause guaranteed the right to receive an abortion through the end of the second trimester.”
