JD Vance says Donald Trump would veto federal abortion ban
Republican vice presidential-hopeful Sen. JD Vance spent his weekend reassuring voters that Donald Trump has no intentions of supporting a nationwide ban on abortion and would veto a federal abortion ban.
Fox – 5 Atlanta
The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to fast track a case against Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials for what’s been called “unlawfully us(ing) their offices and agencies to interfere with the election” for the abortion-access amendment on the November statewide ballot.
“The proceedings in the above-styled case are hereby expedited,” the court’s order said. DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) Secretary Jason Weida have until Sept. 23 to respond, and Palm Beach County-based attorney Adam Richardson, who filed the case, has until Sept. 30 to reply.
Richardson, a frequent critic of the DeSantis administration, on Tuesday filed what’s called a “Petition for Writs of Quo Warranto, Writs of Mandamus, and All Writs Relief.” The idea is for the court to order state officials to show what authority they have for performing some action.
“Since the Court approved ballot placement, they have waged a campaign to interfere with the election,” Richardson wrote, asking the justices to “immediately exercise (their) … authority” before the Nov. 5 general election.
Challenges such as his aren’t won often, but one University of Florida law review article said they “often serve as the sole method for testing the political power of a state official,” calling them “a powerful – and effective – way for citizens to constrain the state government to the limits of power established by the state constitution.”
Florida voters will decide on abortion rights this November
The ballot measure for Amendment 4 would enshrine abortion access in the Florida Constitution if it gets no less than 60% support from voters statewide. The state now has a six-week abortion ban, though there are medical, rape and incest exceptions for patients up to 15 weeks of pregnancy.
As previously reported by the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, Richardson pointed to examples that include a new webpage published by AHCA that criticizes the amendment, accusing it of “threatening women’s safety.” And the agency paid for a television advertisement that directs Floridians to that webpage.
Also mentioned in Richardson’s filing is how, as first reported by the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, the Governor’s Faith and Community Initiative reached out to religious groups last week to advertise a call with state Attorney General Ashley Moody titled, “Your Legal Rights & Amendment 4’s Ramifications.”
Moreover, state election officials sent police to the homes of some residents who signed a petition to put the measure on the ballot to make sure their signatures were legitimate. The Florida Department of State has defended that, saying it “uncovered evidence of illegal conduct with fraudulent petitions.”
DeSantis has defended his use of his office to oppose the amendment and has begun turning to churches and religious groups to build his case against the amendment. AHCA resources were being used to “basically provide people with accurate information, and I think that’s something that’s really important,” the governor has said.
During a Wednesday morning press conference, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida announced it too would be filing a lawsuit against the AHCA, on behalf of the Amendment 4 campaign.
“This website is filled with demonstrably false statements, and so we’re challenging the misuse of taxpayer dollars to lie to voters about this amendment,” said Keisha Mulfort, the ACLU of Florida’s senior communications strategist.
Previous coverage: Florida lawyer sues Gov. DeSantis, says he’s abusing his power opposing abortion amendment
Florida First Amendment issues reporter Douglas Soule contributed. News Director Jim Rosica can be reached at jrosica@tallahassee.com. Follow him on X: @JimRosicaFL.
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Publish date : 2024-09-11 04:39:00
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