ORLANDO, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court on Friday took up a monumental case that could decide the future of abortions in the state.
The high court’s justices heard oral arguments over the current 15-week abortion ban Friday in Tallahassee.
The 15-week abortion ban was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022.
Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida filed the lawsuit. They argue the ban violates the Florida Constitution’s right-to-privacy provision.
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The courts allowed the law to go into effect while the case was hashed out in court.
However, if the high court rules in favor of the state and says the abortion ban is constitutional, a stricter ban will go into place a month later. That law, signed by DeSantis last April, would ban abortions after 6 weeks with few exceptions.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court may also soon play a role in another abortion measure.
A group trying to get abortion access on the November 2024 ballot as a constitutional amendment says it has collected enough petitions to trigger a Florida Supreme Court review of the ballot measure to make sure its language is in line with Florida law.
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