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Florida Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative (2024)
| Florida Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 5, 2024 | |
| Topic Abortion | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin Citizens |
The Florida Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative (Initiative #23-06) was not on the ballot in Florida as an initiated constitutional amendment on November 5, 2024.
The ballot initiative would have established a right to reproductive freedom in the Florida Constitution, which would have included decisions related to childbirth, fertilization, sterilization, contraception, and termination of a pregnancy before fetal viability.[1]
A similar initiative was filed by Floridians Protecting Freedom.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | Reproductive Freedom Amendment[2] | ” |
Ballot summary
The proposed ballot summary would have been as follows:[1]
| “ | Would provide that every individual has a right to reproductive freedom to make and conduct all pregnancy related decisions including childbirth, fertilization, sterilization, contraception, and termination of a pregnancy before fetal viability. Would prohibit the state or other entities from interfering with an individual or assisting entities from exercising this right. Would allow the state to regulate abortion care after fetal viability provided it does not endanger the life or health of the pregnant person.[2] | ” |
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Florida, the number of signatures required for an initiated constitutional amendment is equal to 8% of the votes cast in the preceding presidential election. Florida also has a signature distribution requirement, which requires that signatures equaling at least 8% of the district-wide vote in the last presidential election be collected from at least half (14) of the state's 28 congressional districts. Signatures remain valid until February 1 of an even-numbered year.[3] Signatures must be verified by February 1 of the general election year the initiative aims to appear on the ballot.
Proposed measures are reviewed by the state attorney general and state supreme court after proponents collect 25% of the required signatures across the state in each of one-half of the state's congressional districts (222,898 signatures for 2024 ballot measures). After these preliminary signatures have been collected, the secretary of state must submit the proposal to the Florida Attorney General and the Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC). The attorney general is required to petition the Florida Supreme Court for an advisory opinion on the measure's compliance with the single-subject rule, the appropriateness of the title and summary, and whether or not the measure "is facially invalid under the United States Constitution."[4]
The requirements to get an initiative certified for the 2024 ballot:
- Signatures: 891,523 valid signatures
- Deadline: The deadline for signature verification was February 1, 2024. As election officials have 30 days to check signatures, petitions should be submitted at least one month before the verification deadline.
In Florida, proponents of an initiative file signatures with local elections supervisors, who are responsible for verifying signatures. Supervisors are permitted to use random sampling if the process can estimate the number of valid signatures with 99.5% accuracy. Enough signatures are considered valid if the random sample estimates that at least 115% of the required number of signatures are valid.
Details about the initiative
- Freedom & Liberty for Florida filed the ballot initiative on April 28, 2023.[1]
- The initiative was withdrawn on May 4, 2023.[1]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Florida Division of Elections, "Initiative #23-06," accessed April 28, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Before the passage of Florida Senate Bill 1794 of 2020, signatures remained valid for a period of two years
- ↑ Florida State Senate, "Florida Senate Bill 1794," accessed April 13, 2020
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State of Florida Tallahassee (capital) |
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