Florida supreme court allows six-week abortion ban but says voters will decide issue in November

Abortion rights will be on the ballot in Florida this November, the state’s Supreme Court said in a highly anticipated ruling on Monday.

Just hours before the 1 April deadline, the panel of seven justices – all appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis – said that a proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion should be put to voters this November.

At the same time, however, the judges overturned more than three decades of precedent to uphold the ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, which was signed into law by governor Ron DeSantis in 2022.

That will mean a more restrictive law signed last year, which bans nearly all abortions after six weeks, will now go into effect – until and unless voters choose to overturn it.

In addition to the abortion vote, Florida voters will also cast their ballot against or for removing criminal and civil penalties for those 21 years or older who use marijuana.

“I applaud the Florida Supreme Court’s decision today to allow a ballot initiative protecting abortion rights in the Sunshine State,” said Florida congressman Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat, on Monday.

“Everyone deserves the right to make their own healthcare decisions, and this referendum gives women the opportunity to voice that opinion.”

His colleague Maxwell Frost, who represents most of Orlando, likewise said: “There’s so much at stake, we can’t stay home on 5 November.”

Anna Eskamani, a Democrat serving in the Florida state legislator, said the new six-week abortion ban would be “devastating”, but said she was “confident that the tide will turn” this November.

Conversely, Florida’s Republican attorney general Ashley Moody praised the court’s ruling on abortion rights while criticising it for allowing a “vague and