Florida Court Upholds 15 Week Abortion Ban

Florida's top court on Monday upheld a Republican-backed law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy - a decision that allows a stricter six-week ban to take effect - but also cleared the way for voters to decide whether to amend the state's constitution to establish a right to abortion.

The Florida Supreme Court's ruling upholding the existing ban - a victory for Governor Ron DeSantis and other Republicans - came in a challenge filed by abortion provider Planned Parenthood and others.

The court also rejected a bid by Ashley Moody, the Republican state attorney general, to keep the abortion rights constitutional amendment off the Nov. 5 ballot.

The constitutional amendment proposal's backers in January secured the required number of signatures to put it on the ballot. It would ban laws that "prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient's health, as determined by the patient's healthcare provider."

Abortion is illegal after 15 weeks in Florida under a law signed by DeSantis in 2022, two months before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had legalized abortion nationwide.

DeSantis in April subsequently signed an even stricter ban passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature starting at six weeks of pregnancy. That measure included "trigger" language making the six-week ban take effect one month after the state Supreme Court affirmed the earlier 15-month ban. Six weeks is before many women know they are pregnant.