Democrats look to abortion issue for election boost
TALLAHASSEE - Following a pair of blockbuster decisions by the Florida Supreme Court, Democrats are galvanizing around abortion as a "front and center" issue that they say could affect races up and down the ballot in November.
Focus on the abortion issue exploded Monday shortly after the seven-member Supreme Court - which includes five justices appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis - overturned decades of precedent and upheld a 2022 Florida law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The ruling will trigger a 2023 law preventing abortions after six weeks. Critics maintain that the six-week restriction, which will take effect next month, amounts to a virtual ban on abortions.
Justices, meanwhile, also allowed a proposal to go on the November ballot aimed at enshrining abortion rights in the Florida Constitution. As with all proposed constitutional changes, passage of the measure would require approval from at least 60 percent of voters.
The abortion rights proposal will share the November ballot with President Joe Biden's re-election matchup against his predecessor, former President Donald Trump. While Trump lost nationally, he defeated Biden by more than 3 percentage points in Florida in 2020.
Political insiders had largely written off Florida for Democrats in this year's elections, as Republicans have built a large voter-registration advantage and hold all statewide elected offices and supermajorities in the Legislature.
But Democrats are seizing on the abortion issue as a potential crack in the GOP's dominance in the state.
Hours after Monday's court opinions, Biden's campaign issued a memo with the subject line "President Biden's opening in Florida."
"Make no mistake: Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden, especially given Trump's weak, cash-strapped campaign and serious vulnerabilities within his coalition," the president's campaign manager, Julia Chavez Rodriguez, wrote.
Abortion rights "will be front and center this election cycle," she added.
"We definitely see Florida in play. And unlike Donald Trump, we have multiple pathways to 270 (electoral-college votes) that we've been able to keep open," Chavez Rodriguez told reporters during a press call Tuesday.
Democrats are blaming Trump's U.S. Supreme Court appointees for a 2022 ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years guaranteed access to abortions. The 2022 ruling left decisions about abortion up to states and spawned a series of laws in Republican-dominated states, including Florida, restricting access.
Biden called Florida's six-week limit "outrageous" Tuesday in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
"Yesterday, Florida's Supreme Court upheld a state abortion ban, likely triggering the Governor's more extreme law eliminating access before many even know they're pregnant. Outrageous @VP and I remain committed to protecting reproductive freedom in Florida and across the U.S.," Biden's post said, making references to DeSantis, the six-week law and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Florida Republicans also are gearing up for a battle over abortion in November, with state House Speaker Paul Renner telling reporters "there will be an organized effort" to defeat the proposed constitutional amendment.
"The effort will really be focused on those in the middle," Renner, R-Palm Coast, said Monday. "This (the proposed amendment), really, would go right up to the time of birth, with no opportunity for regulation whatsoever. It is extreme in its focus. It would be one of the most extreme laws in the country, as well as around the world, should it pass."
But Laura Goodhue, executive director of the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, said Renner's remarks about late-term abortions were "absolutely not" accurate.