Florida’s Supreme Court rulings on abortion are giving Democrats fresh hope to achieve what they’ve been unable to do for more than a decade: win the presidential race in the Sunshine State.
In separate rulings, the state’s high court has paved the way for a six-week abortion ban to take effect May 1 but also approved a ballot amendment for the November elections to enshrine abortion rights into the Florida constitution.
“In election after election, the American people have proven that they will not stand for Trump and MAGA Republicans’ assaults on their right to choose,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison said in a statement. “The stakes couldn’t be higher this November, and voters nationwide will choose to stand with President Biden and Vice President Harris once again to safeguard our freedoms.”
The rulings on Monday upheld a 15-week ban, and the six-week ban was written so that it would kick in once the 15-week provision was upheld.
Florida is the last southeastern state in which women can currently receive an abortion after 12 weeks. Most states in the region ban it entirely with some exceptions, while others restrict it after six weeks. North Carolina’s ban is after 12 weeks.
President Biden’s reelection team says that thanks in part to abortion, Florida is ripe for the taking by Democrats in November.
“Our agenda, our coalition, and the unique dynamics this election presents make it clear: President Biden is in a stronger position to win Florida this cycle than he was in 2020,” Biden Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a strategy memo. “Make no mistake: Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden.”
In one of the most recent presidential polls in Florida, released March 15 by St. Pete Polls for WMNF Radio in Tampa, former President Donald Trump led Mr. Biden, 48% to 42%. In 2020, Mr. Trump defeated Mr. Biden in Florida by 51.2% to 47.9%.
In a statement from the White House, the president assailed the Florida ruling as an “extreme decision” and slammed the forthcoming six-week ban as “outrageous.”
“These extreme laws take away women’s freedom to make their own health care decisions and threaten physicians with jail time simply for providing the medical care that they were trained to provide,” he said.
In the post-Roe v. Wade era, pro-abortion ballot measures have proved successful since the Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning federal protections and have buoyed Democratic candidates.
But Democrats winning statewide elections in Florida have become a thing of the past, as the Sunshine State has become increasingly red in Donald Trump’s era. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win Florida was Barack Obama in 2012 during his reelection.
The 2012 cycle was also the last time Florida voters elected a Democrat, Bill Nelson, to the Senate. Mr. Nelson lost reelection to Sen. Rick Scott in 2018.
Mr. Scott’s Democratic challenger this fall, former Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, made the case to donors in a fundraising pitch Tuesday that Florida is now more winnable and insisted it is “NOT a red state.”
Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz, responding online to a social media post from a state lawmaker saying that Florida is now in play for Democrats, posted: “I love a good April Fools!”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.