Politics & Policy

DeSantis signed Florida’s 15-week abortion bill. He may be in for a rude awakening.

Sometime before its session ends this summer, the Supreme Court will likely eliminate federal abortion rights or, at a minimum, scale it back significantly. That ruling will come in the case of the Dobbs Women’s Health Foundation v. Jackson, which is expected to overturn precedent to find that banning abortions after 15 weeks does not violate the Constitution. Currently, the ban on abortion before viability is unconstitutional, occurring around the 24th week of pregnancy and marking the time when a fetus can survive outside the uterus.

In anticipation, controlled by the Republican Party Statuses Florida, for example, is rushing through its own bans. Governor Ron DeSantis, who keeps an eye on In 2024 the presidentsigned into law on Thursday, state-specific Ban on abortion 15 weeks. While law There are exceptions for abortion after 15 weeks to save the woman’s life or if the fetus has a fatal malformation, there are no exceptions for rape or incest.

State constitutions and courts can – and do, in the case of Florida – provide their own abortion protections.

However, these legislators may be in for a rude awakening. The Supreme Court’s decision will determine the scope of protections under the United States Constitution. But USA There are both federal and state governments, something Republicans are often eager to point out. In addition to the federal Constitution and federal courts, there are state constitutions and state courts. Those state constitutions and courts can – and do, in the case of Florida – provide their own abortion protections.

The US Constitution establishes a floor, not a ceiling, to protect individual rights. States may choose to provide greater protection than the federal government through their laws or constitutions. This is why even if the Supreme Court removed the federal constitutional protection of the right to abortion, abortion would not become illegal everywhere overnight. Instead, its legality would trumpet state law.

In Florida, a new 15-week ban would affect the state’s constitutional protections for women’s right to terminate a pregnancy. In 1980, Florida Citizens Amended Florida Constitution to add privacy clarity. Thing I, Article 23 The text reads: “Privacy: Every natural person has the right to be left alone and free from government intrusion into his or her private life.”

In 1989, the Florida Supreme Court explain that provision means the state constitution protects the right to abortion, stating that “Florida’s Privacy Statement is clearly relevant to a woman’s decision about whether or not to continue with a pregnancy. We can imagine some of the more personal or private decisions regarding one’s body that one can make throughout life.” Just as the U.S. Supreme Court rooted abortion rights into privacy in Roe v. Wade, so does the Florida Supreme Court.

According to the decisions of the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Constitution does not simply protect women’s rights to terminate unwanted pregnancies; it strongly defends it. Florida’s abortion regulations trigger the highest level of scrutiny from the courts, known as rigorous oversight. Very few laws exist to this exact judicial standard because it requires that the law be the only possible way to achieve a truly persuasive goal of government.

1649941239910 now mnn yelp abortion costs 220414 1920x1080

This makes the Florida Constitution’s test of the constitutionality of abortion provisions significantly more demanding than the federal Constitution’s “excessive burden” test. For example, the US Supreme Court has allowed a law that requires women to wait 24 hours after consulting a doctor before having an abortion, on the grounds that the delay does not create “undue burden”. ” for women who want to end their pregnancy. In contrast, the Florida Supreme Court in 2017 provisional blocked The state’s mandatory delay law imposes a 24-hour waiting period on the grounds that the state failure to show it has passed strict scrutiny.

It is hard to imagine a greater invasion of privacy than a government forcing women to become pregnant against their will.

To be sure, just as an increasingly conservative judiciary can undermine protections already established in federal courts, the same may well be true in Florida state courts. Due to the mandatory retirement rules, DeSantis was able to replace three liberal judges on the Florida Supreme Court with his own picks, all examined by very conservative, very influential people Federal Association. He can then replace two others, increasing the number of judges DeSantis has appoint to five out of seven in the Florida Supreme Court. In short, like the Supreme Court of the United States, the Florida Supreme Court has taken a big turn to the right.

However, while the US Supreme Court may argue that the US Constitution does not specifically mention any right to privacy, the same argument is not available to the Florida Supreme Court. Instead, any decision to remove the state’s protections for abortion must explain why the person’s “right to be left alone and free from government intrusion into one’s private life” does not include very private decisions about termination of pregnancy. It is hard to imagine a greater invasion of privacy than a government forcing women to become pregnant against their will.

Thus, although anti-abortion legislation may pass the legislature, abortion rights advocates should rest easy knowing that the law will face obstacles. Just as power is divided vertically between the federal and state governments, so power is divided horizontally among the different branches – legislative, judicial, and executive – of state government.

State legislatures may deliberately ignore their state constitutions, and governors may be willing to follow suit. State courts, on the other hand, which have power against unconstitutional actions of the other two branches and whose legitimacy depends on the proper interpretation of those state constitutions, may not.

True, there are often gaps in constitutional interpretation. In fact, a Florida lower court recently ruled that the 24-hour waiting period does not violate Florida’s constitutional rights privacy because women can still have abortions. The same cannot be said for the ban on abortion. In Florida, maintaining an injunction before it went into effect would require an even more undisciplined state supreme court than the United States Supreme Court.

You are reading the article DeSantis signed Florida’s 15-week abortion bill. He may be in for a rude awakening.

at Blogtuan.info – Source: nbcnews.com – Read the original article here

Back to top button