Thread: Roe V Wade overturned

It stands……

Originally Posted by S Landreth

The smart vote was NO!

Ohio Democrats celebrate rejection of Issue 1 seen as threat to abortion rights effort

Originally Posted by S Landreth

• Ohio Supreme Court dismisses AG Yost's appeal, clears path for abortion ban to be blocked

A month after Ohio voters approved a constitutional right to abortion, the state Supreme Court dismissed an appeal that could have led to reinstating a ban on most abortions.

Justices dismissed the appeal "due to a change in the law."

The move on Friday comes shortly after attorneys for Ohio's abortion clinics asked a Hamilton County judge to block the abortion ban permanently.

That law bans doctors from performing abortions after cardiac activity is detected, which is about six weeks gestation. The ban took effect for several months last year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, sending decisions about abortion access back to state lawmakers and judges.

That ban has been on hold since September 2022, when a Hamilton County judge blocked it temporarily. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, a Republican, appealed the decision to the Ohio Supreme Court.

The court initially agreed to look at two issues: whether abortion clinics could sue on behalf of patients and whether Yost appealed too soon. After Ohioans approved the abortion rights measure on Nov. 7, Yost still wanted the justices to address those two legal questions.

Originally Posted by S Landreth

Florida Supreme Court

Good luck but this is the most conservative court in the US.

^They/some were there during the Voting Rights Restoration vote.

It’s working today, but not as easy as most had hoped.

Just wish the wording is right on ballot so it is easy to follow, when voting.

It should bring out more women voters.

• Roe anniversary reheats abortion wars
  

Roe v. Wade may be history but Monday's anniversary of the 1973 decision is providing a potent rallying point for both sides in the abortion wars.

Driving the news: Amid a showdown over funding the government, House Republican leaders brought up a pair of symbolic bills they said would protect pregnant women's rights but that Democrats contend would further erode abortion access.

• They're the first such measures under Speaker Mike Johnson and stand no chance in the Democrat-controlled Senate or with President Biden. And they served to elevate an issue that's been toxic for the GOP in post-Roe elections and that Republicans in swing districts would just as soon avoid.
• But the priority assigned to them signals that the GOP majority isn't finished, and perhaps telegraphs a new legislative twist less focused on restrictions on the procedure.
• "We are working on the next chapter of our pro-life movement," said Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa) at a Thursday press conference.

Of note: Neither measure is an abortion ban. One would increase protections and resources for college or university students who carry a pregnancy to term.

• The second would allow states to allocate Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds to "crisis pregnancy centers" — nonprofits that aim to dissuade pregnant people from having an abortion. The Biden administration last year proposed limiting federal funds for the facilities, which abortion rights advocates say often use misleading information.
• Both bills passed the House on Thursday along party lines.

The big picture: Roe's anniversary also is serving as a rallying point in battleground states.

• The annual Women's March is being held this weekend in Phoenix, in a state that could decide control of the Senate and may put abortion rights on the ballot in November.
• Democrats will kick off their own campaign next week, with appearances by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and a new ad blitz focused on reproductive rights. The first events are in Wisconsin and Virginia.
• Democrats contend measures like the House bills are prelude to a nationwide abortion ban and wager the issue could fuel enough voter backlash to flip control of the House.
• "Speaker Johnson and anti-choice extremists are pushing two more anti-abortion measures onto the House floor, continuing their march towards a total, national abortion ban," the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said.
• Democratic senators held a briefing this week during which they highlighted how abortion bans have eroded women's health in the states where they've been enacted.

Abortion foes' latest push, in part, seeks to tap growing public skepticism of higher education, including complaints from the right about "wokeness" and free speech.

• The House bill on pregnant students' rights notes that students may "face pressure that their only option is to receive an abortion or risk academic failure," so colleges should be required to detail resources and accommodations, as well as how to file complaints if there's a violation of rights.
• "We should all agree that pregnant students deserve better connections to resources available. And we should be a country that empowers mothers on campus and supports them with resources and information," said E.V. Osment, vice president of communications for SBA Pro-Life America.

What's next: Republican lawmakers are still facing a major intraparty fight over anti-abortion policies after Congress on Thursday approved a stopgap funding bill to keep the government open through early March.

• House conservatives are insisting on attaching to full-year spending bills anti-abortion riders, such as limits on the abortion pill mifepristone, that are nonstarters with Democrat

• Florida Supreme Court to decide if abortion protections will appear on November ballot

The Florida Supreme Court is weighing whether a proposed amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution can appear on the state’s November ballot.

At a hearing on Wednesday, the court’s seven conservative-leaning justices — five of whom were appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis — heard arguments from attorneys representing the Florida attorney general and Florida Voters Against Extremism, which oppose the language in the ballot summary, and the amendment’s sponsor, Floridians Protecting Freedom, which maintains that its ballot summary language is clear.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which established abortion as a constitutional right, in 2022 and left it to states to decide on the issue, abortion rights supporters have focused on enshrining reproductive health rights in state constitutions through ballot initiatives.

In the six instances that abortion-related amendments have been put on the ballot so far, voters have sided with abortion rights supporters every time, including in red states like Kansas and Kentucky. Passage of the measure under consideration in Florida would mark another win for abortion rights advocates, signaling that the Republican Party’s victory in overturning Roe is being undone one state at a time.

What are Florida’s current abortion laws?

As of Feb. 7, abortion is legal in Florida until 15 weeks of pregnancy and there are no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. But the state Supreme Court is weighing whether a more restrictive six-week ban can take effect.

If passed, what would the amendment do?

The amendment would overturn Florida’s abortion restrictions, including limits on how far along into a person’s pregnancy they can have the procedure and other cumbersome requirements like waiting periods and forced ultrasounds before the procedure. Under the amendment, minors seeking an abortion would still need to get their parents to sign off on it.

If the amendment is passed, it could also expand abortion access beyond Florida, as neighboring states like Georgia and Alabama have laws either banning abortion completely or after six weeks, which is before many women even know they are pregnant.

What is the Florida Supreme Court being asked to do?

The justices are being asked to consider whether the measure pertains to a single issue and whether the summary that would appear on the ballot clearly describes what the proposed amendment would do, as Florida state law requires.

Attorney Nathan Forrester, representing Florida’s attorney general, said in his opening statement, “The proposed amendment here should not be placed on the ballot because it is misleading in multiple respects” and urged the justices to disqualify the amendment.

“The people’s right to amend their state’s constitution is fundamental to our state’s democracy,” said Courtney Brewer, the attorney representing Floridians Protecting Freedom. “This amendment follows the directive given by the U.S. Supreme Court in Dobbs that the people should decide how their state may govern abortion.”

How would the ballot initiative be presented to voters?

The initiative, if allowed to move forward, would appear on the Florida ballot under the title “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.” Below that, voters would be presented with the following summary of the amendment they’re being asked to vote on: “No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

Marking “yes” on the ballot would indicate support for establishing a state constitutional right to abortion before a fetus is viable.

Marking “no” on the ballot would indicate opposition to establishing a state constitutional right to abortion before a fetus is viable.

The full text of the proposed amendment can be read here.

What are the arguments from both sides?

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody argues that the ballot summary doesn’t clearly state what the sweeping implications would be if voters approved the amendment.

“The ballot summary vastly understates the potentially sweeping scope of the amendment, by failing to explain what ‘viability,’ ‘health,’ or ‘healthcare provider’ means, and by not disclosing that a ‘healthcare provider’ might have power to determine when a baby is viable,” Moody stated in her initial brief.

Viability is generally understood to be at about 24 weeks of pregnancy, when a fetus could survive outside of the womb, but it can vary depending on the health conditions of the fetus or parent.

Meanwhile, Floridians Protecting Freedom maintains that its proposed amendment is clear enough for Florida voters to understand the implications of the ballot measure.

“There is no question that voters understand what viability means in the abortion context,” Brewer told the justices. “Its meaning [has] become a part of the cultural fabric of our nation ... I think that the voters are perfectly capable of reading this language and understanding it.”