The Quickie: Some Lawmakers Want To Keep Abortion Off The Ballot

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here

In today’s Quickie: Mississippi lawmakers try to thwart abortion ballot initiative, and Floridians Protecting Freedom clears another hurdle to put abortion on Florida’s ballot.

SOME LAWMAKERS WANT TO KEEP ABORTION OFF THE BALLOT: Even without the prospect of an abortion ballot measure on the horizon, lawmakers in Mississippi are scared enough to try banning them. A resolution passed last week by the Mississippi House would revive the state’s ballot initiative process — except for measures that would change the state’s abortion laws. One lawmaker, Rep. Cheikh Taylor, called the proposal’s limits “terms and conditions” for direct democracy. 

As the Associated Press reports, this move by Mississippi conservatives is just the latest attempt to stop voters from rejecting abortion bans. Missouri lawmakers continue to push threshold-raising bills that would make it harder to qualify and pass initiatives. Ohio lawmakers lost by a wide margin when they tried to raise their state’s threshold, but that’s not stopping other lawmakers from trying their luck. Lawmakers in Florida recently proposed a similar law that would push the state’s already high 60% passage threshold up to 66.67% — but only if passed by voters in November. 

Read more from the Associated Press and WESH Orlando. 

 

FLORIDA BALLOT INITIATIVE GETS ITS NUMBER — AMENDMENT 4: Late last week, Floridians Protecting Freedom received its official verification from the secretary of state, crossing off another milestone to appearing on the ballot in November. 

The next hurdle for the newly-minted Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion — now officially labeled Amendment 4 —  is approval by the Florida Supreme Court. According to the Florida Phoenix, hearings about ballot initiatives are typically procedural and limited to whether the amendment and its summary are clear to voters. But anti-abortion groups and state officials, including Attorney General Ashley Moody, are arguing against the initiative’s approval. 

In a statement sent to press, Floridians Protecting Freedom expressed optimism about the outcome. “Once the Florida Supreme Court confirms what we know already, that our ballot title and summary meet the requirements to go to voters, we will have crossed the final hurdle,” the group said.