Florida Supreme Court allows 6-week abortion ban to take effect, but voters will have the final say

In a pair of significant decisions Monday, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a 15-week ban on abortion in the state while also allowing a proposed amendment that would enshrine abortion protections in the state constitution to appear on the November ballot.

The conservative-leaning court's decision on the 15-week ban also means that a six-week abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the woman, that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last year will take effect.

But the bench's ruling to allow the constitutional amendment to appear on the ballot this fall means voters will have a chance in just seven months to undo those restrictions.

Republicans have made multiple moves over the nearly two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade to restrict access to abortion.

In 2022, DeSantis, a Republican, signed a 15-week abortion ban passed by the GOP-controlled Legislature that was almost immediately challenged in court.

Then, in April 2023, just weeks before he announced his presidential campaign, he signed a ban after six weeks — before many women even know they're pregnant — which was also immediately challenged.

In reviewing the initial challenge to the 15-week ban, the state Supreme Court had said the six-week ban would remain blocked until it ruled on the 15-week proposal.

In its ruling Monday, the court’s justices wrote in a majority opinion, “Consistent with longstanding principles of judicial deference to legislative enactments, we conclude there is no basis under the Privacy Clause to invalidate” the 15-week statute.

They added that Planned Parenthood, the plaintiff, “cannot overcome the presumption of constitutionality and is unable to demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that