Happening

 “The attorney general is required to petition the court to rule on proposed initiatives when they hit a threshold of verified signatures. The abortion question qualified with 222,881. Moody is not required to oppose them. It is difficult to conceive of any dealing with abortion rights, marijuana legalization or guns to which she would not manufacture an objection. The job of Florida attorney general has long been called ‘the people’s lawyer.’ Moody is not.” 

– South Florida Sun Sentinel Editorial Board

The entire point of the struggle in Florida, and across the country, to pass initiatives restoring access to abortion care, is to stop politicians from interfering with what should be private decisions we make about our own bodies. The level of interference we’re seeing just trying to get these questions before voters is a perfect example of what Floridians, and Americans, are so frustrated about. 

The fact is, across the country, every time voters have had the chance to have their say, they have reaffirmed support for abortion access and against political meddling in our personal lives. The only play desperate politicians have left is to try to rig the system so voters never get the chance to have their say, as Attorney General Ashley Moody did when she announced her intention to silence voters and stop them from ever getting a chance to vote on our ballot initiative. 

This week, the state is holding a public workshop as part of a Fiscal Impact Estimating Conference to determine if our amendment will have a fiscal impact on the state. We’re monitoring the process closely to ensure if they try to use it as a way to interfere with our amendment, as we’ve seen happen in places like Missouri, we’ll be ready.

In The Media

Opinion writers are starting to weigh in on Attorney General Moody’s attempts to silence voters. The Palm Beach Post’s Frank Cerabino responded this way: Fla. Attorney General Ashley Moody tries to sow confusion over abortion vote. And the South Florida Sun Sentinel editorialized, Attorney general moves to silence voters once again. 

The Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times reported on the origins of our campaign in their story, Florida could vote on abortion in 2024. Meet the group behind the push. Check out the pictures of our volunteers and supporters in the story! Excerpt: Some of the petitions received by Floridians Protecting Freedom include notes: “thank you for doing this” scrawled on a yellow Post-it note or ripped-off piece of notebook paper, longer letters sharing stories from decades ago, questions about how people can help in their areas. A dedicated group of volunteers meet weekly to sort through petitions mailed to a P.O. Box in Sarasota. Note: non-firewalled link via Yahoo! Is here. 

 Volunteers meet weekly in Sarasota to sort through petitions mailed in to the campaign's post office box. [ Courtesy of Floridians Protecting Freedom ]

The Orlando Weekly reports, Out of state abortions in Florida up nearly 25% as six-week abortion ban looms. Excerpt: A campaign to let Florida voters decide in 2024 whether Florida should expand abortion access up to fetal viability (again) was launched in May. It’s gaining significant ground, despite lacking confidence from Florida’s Republican State Attorney General, who wants the state Supreme Court to trash it before it can make it onto the ballot.