What does the overturning of Roe v. Wade mean for abortion rights in Florida?
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade means it is now up to individual states to decide whether abortion is legal and to what extent. In Florida, which is led by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican-controlled Legislature, that might mean greater restrictions to abortion access.
In April, DeSantis signed a bill banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, effective July 1. Florida previously allowed abortion until the third trimester — about 24 weeks.
But unlike at least 18 other states, Florida has not kept any abortion bans on the books from before the landmark ruling or passed “trigger” laws that would ban abortion when Roe v. Wade was overturned.
That means abortion is still legal in Florida despite Friday’s ruling, said Howard Wasserman, a professor at Florida International University’s College of Law, “because there is no law in Florida that restricts it.”
“Right now, there’s no [Florida] law prohibiting abortion, at least not pre-viability,” Wasserman said, referring to the scientific threshold of up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. Starting July 1 in Florida, “the line is going to be 15 weeks,” he said.
Merritt McAlister, a professor at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law, said the significance of the ruling for Florida is that the state could outlaw most abortions.
“It means that the Constitution doesn’t protect the right” to an abortion, she said. “So the result is that states get to decide.”
DeSantis, in a statement, said the Supreme Court decision was “long overdue” and that Florida will “work to expand pro-life protections,” though he did not provide any details of his plans.
Some observers say Florida could go the way of other Republicancontrolled states, such as Oklahoma, Idaho and Texas, and pass a “heartbeat” bill banning abortions after six weeks, which is before many pregnancies are detected.
Anti-abortion groups have also pushed state leaders to consider banning abortion medication that federal regulators say allows people to safely induce abortions at home. Florida law already prohibits physicians from prescribing the drugs online or over the phone.
Legal experts said Friday’s decision could pave the way for a total abortion ban in Florida, or something close to it, if politicians choose to pursue that path.
“With this decision, states don’t really face any restrictions and they can do what they want to do,” said Wasserman, the FIU law professor. “If a state’s legislative goal is no abortion, full stop, they now can do that.”
Any new restrictions in Florida would likely be challenged in state court — as the state’s 15-week ban has already been.
The University of Florida’s McAlister said the Florida Constitution affords privacy rights that go beyond the U.S. Constitution and could make it more difficult to ban abortion entirely.
“Florida provides greater protection than what the federal Constitution provides,” McAlister said. “But that is subject to being revisited by the Florida Supreme Court.”
Most Florida residents want abortion to remain legal in most cases, according to a May survey of more than 500 Floridians by Florida Atlantic University. That poll showed 67% of residents wanting abortion legal in either all or most cases, including 85% of Democrats, 52% of Republicans and 63% of independents.
Michael Elkins, a Fort Lauderdale attorney, said the U.S. Supreme Court “is ultimately showing to be even more conservative than we anticipated.” The decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, he said, could potentially open the door for the stripping of other federal protections, such as for samesex marriage and the right to contraception.
“I would say the door is open, and there is a hand waving you in,” Elkins said. “I think those are things people should be concerned about.”
IMPEDIMENTS TO ABORTION ACCESS
Florida has made abortions more difficult to access in recent years. Among the steps taken:
The 15-week ban that DeSantis signed this year. Florida previously allowed abortions until about 24 weeks. The 15-week law contains Florida’s strictest abortion prohibitions since the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973, with no exceptions for pregnancies that are the result of rape, incest or human trafficking. Under the law, people can still obtain an abortion if their health is threatened or if their baby has a “fatal fetal abnormality.”
The state passed a law in 2020 requiring minors seeking abortions to obtain parental consent. Florida law had already required that parents or guardians be notified if a minor gets an abortion, with the option for minors to obtain a judicial waiver to bypass that requirement.
In April, a Florida judge upheld legislation that requires people to wait 24 hours after an initial doctor visit before they can get an abortion. The ruling followed a seven-year legal battle.
The state’s impending 15-week ban is facing legal threats. This month, several Florida Planned Parenthood chapters and individual abortion providers filed a lawsuit challenging the ban. Laura Goodhue, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood in Florida, said the organization is seeking an injunction in Leon County Circuit Court at a hearing Monday to block the law from taking effect July 1.
“Florida has a history of protecting abortion access through our state constitution, which prohibits our state government from interfering in our personal private decisions,” Goodhue said.
A Boynton Beach synagogue has also sued the state, saying the law violates religious freedom rights and the state constitution’s privacy protections.
DeSantis has been friendly to anti-abortion activists since becoming governor in 2019. After he signed the 15-week ban in April, he said in a statement that he was “proud to sign this great piece of legislation which represents the most significant protections for life in the state’s modern history.”