The majority on the Florida Supreme Court has ruled that an amendment that essentially allows for abortion anytime, to anyone, for any reason, will be on this fall’s election ballot.
But Liberty Counsel, which has fought for the pro-life movement for years already, said it is the three justices in the minority who got the issue right.
“They correctly argued that the proposed amendment ‘misleads’ voters and ‘fails’ to convey the far-reaching legal consequences if voted into law,” Liberty Counsel reported.
Justices Renatha Francis, Jamie Grosshans, and Meredith Sasso, the three women on the court, all dissented from the majority opinion, charging that the language was defective.
For example, they explained, the amendment misleads voters because it ends legislative and executive action on abortion, not just limits.
“Justice Francis argued the proposed amendment ‘hides the ball’ as to its future legal ramifications. She stated the potential effects of the amendment were ‘fourfold’ in that it would repeal all ‘meaningful abortion laws,’ eliminate any legislative actions to protect babies before viability, subject any laws regarding post-viability abortions to a ‘health care provider’s veto,’ and would ‘redefine abortion as a health issue in Florida without saying so.’”
They also warned of years of litigation over “ambiguous” and “undefined” terms in the proposal to be decided by Florida voters.
Those include “viability,” “health care provider,” and “patient’s health.”
Sasso explained, “None of those terms have any sort of widely shared meaning… Similarly, I find it highly unlikely that voters will understand the true ramifications of this amendment—that they will read the ballot summary and vote based on an informed understanding and acceptance of the uncertainties posed by its vague and ambiguous language.”
Finally, the scheme put forward by abortion industry interests will pose a “devastating infringement” on a person’s right to live, they said.
“The exercise of a ‘right’ to an abortion literally results in a devastating infringement on the right of another person: the right to live. And our Florida Constitution recognizes that ‘life’ is a ‘basic right’ for [a]ll natural persons. One must recognize the unborn’s competing right to life and the state’s moral duty to protect that life,” said Francis. “Instead, [this amendment] is a Trojan horse for the elimination of any recognition of the state’s interest in protecting what Roe termed ‘potential life.’”
“Other than parental notification, no law will survive, not even health and safety regulations.
Back alley abortion butchers will be unregulated.
Under this proposed amendment, a tattoo artist, a 911 operator, or an assistant to an orthotic shoe fitter will be considered a ‘health care’ provider and be able to render medical opinions with no medical training.
When Floridians learn about this extreme amendment, they will vote ‘No!’” said Liberty Counsel chief Mat Staver.
