FL Supreme Court To Hear Arguments On Adding Abortion To Ballot

FLORIDA — The state's highest court is set to hear oral arguments next month regarding adding abortion rights to Florida ballot, the Florida Supreme Court said Wednesday.

The supreme court released the docket, which shows the hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and several others are set to make arguments.

Raymer Francis Maguire and Floridians Protecting Freedom are listed sponsors of an amendment campaign to secure abortion rights in Florida, per court records and Axios Tampa Bay.

Floridians Protecting Freedom reported Friday obtaining more than 860,000 petition signatures needed by Feb. 1 to add abortion on the ballot, bringing the Sarasota-based organization close to its goal of 1 million signatures by 97 percent.

Currently, Florida's 15-week abortion ban is being challenged, the Florida Senate said in September. If the supreme court decides to uphold the ban, the Senate said a six-week ban that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law in April will take effect.

"Advocates from Floridians Protecting Freedom, including Leader Book and the Reproductive Freedom Collective of Broward – are fighting to put abortion on the ballot in 2024 to give voters the power to protect abortion rights until viability. The group has gathered more than 700,000 signed petitions – more than half of the nearly 1 million needed," the Senate said in a September news release.

Read more about the case via Axios Tampa Bay.