• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Privacy Right v. Abortion Ban at Heart of Florida Supreme Court Case Set for September

July 9, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 1 Comment

A familiar sight since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. (Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash)
A familiar sight since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. (Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash)

The Florida Supreme Court on Friday said it will hear arguments Sept. 8 in a case that could play a major role in the future of abortion rights in the state.

The court issued an order scheduling a hearing in a challenge to a 2022 law that prevented abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The outcome of the case also will affect a law passed this year that would bar abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — and could determine whether a privacy clause in the Florida Constitution will protect abortion rights.




Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office is asking the Supreme Court to back away from more than three decades of legal precedents that have said the privacy clause applies to abortion rights. Moody’s office said in a March 29 brief that past rulings were “clearly erroneous” and that decisions about abortion restrictions should be left to the Legislature.

“Rather than allow the legislative process to unfold in response to new scientific and medical developments, this (Supreme) Court’s (past) abortion cases have disabled the state from preventing serious harm to women and children and stifled democratic resolution of profoundly important questions touching on the treatment of unborn life, when an unborn child is capable of consciousness and pain, and what medical procedures affecting the procreative process are safe and appropriate to allow,” the brief said.

But attorneys for abortion clinics and a doctor challenging the 15-week limit, known as HB 5, argued in an April 28 brief that the Supreme Court should maintain the longstanding interpretation of the privacy clause.




“Unable to justify HB 5’s extreme ban under existing law, the state instead asks this court to abandon precedent and overrule a fundamental constitutional right that generations of Floridians have relied on,” the plaintiffs’ brief said. “This radical request — which is unsupported by plain language, history, or law — would defy the will of the people and threaten to upend this court’s privacy jurisprudence well beyond abortion.”

Seven abortion clinics and physician Shelly Hsiao-Ying Tien filed the lawsuit in June 2022 challenging the constitutionality of the 15-week abortion law.

Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper agreed with the plaintiffs that the law violated the state Constitution and issued a temporary injunction. But a panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal overturned the injunction, ruling that the plaintiffs could not show “irreparable harm” from the 15-week limit.

The appeals court’s decision allowed the 15-week limit to take effect, and the plaintiffs are asking the Supreme Court to reinstate the injunction. The Supreme Court in January agreed to take up the case but did not set a date for arguments until Friday.




With the case pending, the Republican-controlled Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis this spring approved the six-week abortion limit. But the six-week limit is contingent on the outcome of the challenge to the 15-week law.

Florida voters in 1980 approved a constitutional amendment that established state privacy rights. A 1989 Florida Supreme Court ruling set an initial precedent about the privacy clause protecting abortion rights, and subsequent decisions have followed that precedent.

If the Supreme Court finds in the 15-week case that the privacy clause does not protect abortion rights, it would effectively allow the state to move forward with the six-week limit. The Supreme Court has become far more conservative during the past four years, in part because of appointments by DeSantis.

Meanwhile, a coalition of groups in May began a drive to try to pass a constitutional amendment in 2024 to ensure abortion rights. The proposal, spearheaded by the political committee Floridians Protecting Freedom, would seek to ensure abortion rights up to fetal viability, which has generally been interpreted as about 24 weeks of pregnancy.

–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Michael Cocchiola says

    July 9, 2023 at 3:04 pm

    The Florida supreme court will do as DeSantis demands. It is his creation and beholding to him. It is a court in name only.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • celia pugliese on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • Eighty six forty seven on Moral Collapse: Florida Thinks Letting Prisoners Live in 100-Degree Heat with No Air Flow Isn’t Cruel Enough
  • Dusty on Moral Collapse: Florida Thinks Letting Prisoners Live in 100-Degree Heat with No Air Flow Isn’t Cruel Enough
  • See no evil? on Moral Collapse: Florida Thinks Letting Prisoners Live in 100-Degree Heat with No Air Flow Isn’t Cruel Enough
  • Ray W, on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Me on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • Dusty on 8,000 Homes, 800 RV Sites: Biggest Development Since Palm Coast Seeks Bunnell Commission Approval
  • Joe D on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • The dude on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Palm Coast on 8,000 Homes, 800 RV Sites: Biggest Development Since Palm Coast Seeks Bunnell Commission Approval
  • Laurel on 8,000 Homes, 800 RV Sites: Biggest Development Since Palm Coast Seeks Bunnell Commission Approval
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Tired of it on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Laurel on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • Judy M on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches

Log in