The Latino population in Miami and the rest of South Florida are strong proponents of abortion rights and may just swing the state’s November referendum vote to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, despite leaning conservative and having strong religious views.
Last week, Florida’s Supreme Court upheld a six-week abortion ban set to go into effect May 1, but the court also approved a referendum process where voters get to decide whether to allow abortion until fetal viability.
Across the U.S., 68% of Latinos oppose abortion bans, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll. Approximately 1 in 4 Floridians are Latino, and in Miami, approximately 70% of residents are Hispanic. Many residents are first- or second-generation immigrants from South American countries like Cuba, Colombia, and Venezuela. While deeply religious nations, they have recently decriminalized abortion. While U.S. politics treats abortion as a personal issue — one that concerns privacy rights — in South American and Hispanic culture, abortion is centered on public health issues.
Executive Director of the Women’s Equality Center Paula Avila-Guillen told Axios that abortion was not a personal issue for Latinos.
“They’ve just lived through total abortion bans [and] they know what happens when access is criminalized,” Avila-Guillen said.
State Sen. Alexis Calatayud, a Miami Republican who ran on her anti-abortion stance, was the lone Republican to vote against a six-week abortion ban in March 2023.
“My word means everything to me, and I stand by my commitments I made to the people who elected me,” Calatayud said following the vote. “Because I gave my word to my constituents, I am voting no today.”
So far, abortion rights have won in every state where they have appeared on the ballot since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
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Democrats and the Biden campaign have banked on the idea that the abortion debate in Florida will bring voters to the Democratic Party.
However, in the past, voters in Florida have been in favor of Democratic measures like supporting medical marijuana and restoring convicts’ voting rights, all the while putting Republican candidates in office.