Vice President Kamala Harris continues her “Fight for Reproductive Freedom” tour in Florida on Wednesday. On the same day, a six-week abortion limit is set to go into effect in the state.
Harris plans to campaign in Jacksonville and discuss her opposition to the state’s abortion regulations. Jaxonville florida times union report. He is also expected to continue the Biden re-election campaign’s strategy of criticizing former President Donald Trump for enabling regulations like the one in Florida by nominating three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn them. . Roe v. Wade.
According to reports, the campaign announced the event on Tuesday but did not disclose the time or location of the event. Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan is also expected to attend.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan speaks at a prayer service on August 27, 2023 in Jacksonville, Florida. (AP Photo/John Rau)
“I believe the bottom line is that no matter what you think about abortion, I don’t want the government deciding these issues for women,” Deegan said. “To me, that’s an invasion of privacy.”
Harris’ visit to Florida comes a week after President Joe Biden visited Tampa to speak about abortion and criticize President Trump for the six-week limit.
RELATED: Biden makes sign of the cross during pro-abortion Florida visit
Florida’s six-week abortion limit goes into effect following Florida Supreme Court ruling issued judgment On April 1, he supported the state’s 15-week abortion limit. The court’s decision to keep the 15-week limit in place clears the way for the state’s six-week limit on abortions to go into effect. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (Republican) signed The six-week heartbeat bill, which comes into force in April 2023, includes exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. The state Supreme Court allowed the six-week limit to remain in place pending a ruling on the 15-week limit.
florida was aborted destination In the South, nine states in the region have passed near-total abortion restrictions, with Georgia and South Carolina passing six weeks of restrictions since the Supreme Court’s decision. Dobbs decisionturned over Roe vs. Wade And it returned the issue of abortion to each state.in front DobbsAbortion is legal in Florida up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
in 2023, more than 84,000 women had abortions in Florida, more than most states. Of those women, 7,736 reported coming from out of state, up from 6,726. in 2022, according to data from the Health Care Administration Agency (AHCA). AHCA is already recorded So far this year, 14,735 abortions have been performed, 1,316 of which were performed by women from out of state.
Pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute released data They found that one in three abortions in the South and one in 12 nationwide occurs in Florida. Guttmacher also reported that Florida has an even higher number of women coming from out of state for abortions, more than 9,000.
Florida has also joined the ranks of southern states with stricter abortion laws, making women less likely to travel from surrounding states to get an abortion.
“For someone living in the southernmost part of Florida, the closest abortion clinic would be in Charlotte, a 14-hour drive away. Patients whose pregnancy has progressed past 12 weeks, the threshold at which North Carolina prohibits abortions, I have to drive 17 hours to southern Virginia.” washington post report.
People cheer as President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event at Hillsboro Community College’s Dale Mabry Campus on April 23, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. (Joe Radle/Getty Images)
In upholding the 15-week limit and paving the way for the six-week limit, the Florida Supreme Court also ruled that: was suggested correction It would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution, which will appear on the ballot in November.
This amendment is supported by Floridians Defending Freedom. union A group of left-wing organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida (ACLU), the state states that before the period of viability (approximately 24 weeks) or “to protect a patient’s health at the discretion of the patient’s health care provider,” prohibits restrictions on abortion in cases of “necessity”. provider. ”
If Florida voters pass the measure with at least 60 percent support in November, the amendment would rescind the six-week limit, which would essentially only be reversed by another ballot measure or a difficult legal battle. It would create a permanent right to abortion within states that allow for abortion.
Abortion activists support the measure Beyond State officials say the number of signatures needed will be determined in January, and the measure will appear on the general election ballot as “Amendment 4.”
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign deserves special attention released A memo shortly after the Florida Supreme Court’s decision was announced said it believed the state could win because of the state’s continued strategy to energize Democrats on the abortion issue.
DeSantis on Tuesday called the six-week limit a “noble initiative” and said he was not concerned about Democrats using abortion to win back Florida in November. Former President Donald Trump led the state by 370,000 votes in 2020, and as of March 31, Republicans had a nearly 900,000-vote voter registration advantage over Democrats in the state. according to in the Florida constituency.
“We welcome Biden-Harris to put a lot of money into Florida. Light up the airwaves. Do it. Light the fire,” DeSantis said at a news conference in Tampa. “We have no problem with you doing that here. But I can confidently predict that we’re going to see Republican wins not just at the top of the polls, but up and down the polls. ”
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her at @thekat_Hamilton.
