Abortion-rights amendment one step closer to the FL ballot, but must get Supreme Court approval

Now that the group behind the abortion rights amendment has enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, it’s preparing to defend its ballot language in front of the Florida Supreme Court next month.

Floridians Protecting Freedom has gathered 910,946 valid signatures — it needed 891,523 to get to the ballot — according to the latest count from the Florida Division of Elections on Friday. The campaign also garnered enough support from more than eight percent of voters in 17 congressional districts.

Although the hurdle has almost cleared (signature counts are not official until Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd says so), the Florida Supreme Court has to approve the language of the proposed amendment. Members of the high court are noted for opposing abortion rights, including Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz, who referred to fetuses as “human beings” and suggested sympathy for the state’s defense of the law that limits access to abortion after 15 weeks’ gestation.

An attorney with the campaign, Hélène Barthélemy, said during a press conference Friday that the group is confident in its ballot summary and will make its case in court on Feb. 7. Meanwhile, Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody has asked the court in briefs to reject the initiative because she deems the use of the term viability is ambiguous.