Opinion
By Alexandra R. Lajoux
04-14-24
On April 1, the Florida Supreme Court delivered both good news and bad news for the right to life in Florida.
Good News
One decision was a long-awaited opinion in response to petitions from Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida.[1] The petitioners argued that the 15-week abortion ban passed by the Florida legislature should be struck down because it allegedly violates the privacy clause of the Florida Constitution. But today the high court declared that ”there is no basis under the Privacy Clause to invalidate the statute.”
The court noted that even the Roe vs. Wade majority recognized a “pregnant woman cannot be isolated in her privacy” because “the termination of a pregnancy typically involves the destruction of another entity: the fetus” (quoting Roe, 410 U.S. at 159) [p. 21 of the case]
The Bad News
On this same day the high court, in a 4-3 split decision[2], permitted the inclusion of a highly misleading ballot measure on November ballots. The Attorney General of Florida had petitioned the court for an advisory opinion on the validity of the proposed “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion” which, if passed, would in fact not only limit but entirely disable any abortion-related measures already in place such as the 15-week ban passed today and the parental consent provisions currently on the books.
Chief Justice Canady wrote the decision, with Justices Couriel, Larbarga and Muniz agreeing and Justices Francis, Grosshans, and Sasso dissenting, (This vote occurred along the lines predicted in my previous article The Unborn Get their Day in Court. ) If voters approve this ballot measure come November, God help us. This would invalidate the parental consent currently required under Florida law: a father would have no say on the life or death of his own unborn child (although the misleading measure throws a bone about parental notification, which is a far weaker protection of parental rights). Furthermore, the measure if passed would also invalidate the 15-week ban affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court today, or any such protection of life, making it legal to end the life of a baby even at full term just hours before birth—a clear wrong in a state with a constitution that guarantees under Section 9 that “No person shall be deprived of life ….without due process of law.”
[1] No. SC2022-1050 ____________ PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL FLORIDA, et al., Petitioners, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, et al., Respondents. ____________ No. SC2022-1127 ____________ PLANNED PARENTHOOD OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL FLORIDA, et al., Petitioners, vs. STATE OF FLORIDA, et al., Respondents. April 1, 2024 SC2022-1050 Opinion (flcourts.gov)
[2] ADVISORY OPINION TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL RE: LIMITING GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE WITH ABORTION. April 1, 2024 SC2023-1392 Opinion (flcourts.gov)
Alexandra LaJoux is a Fernandina Beach resident, businesswoman and an activist for causes she believes in.
The views expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal Florida
