Florida Supreme Court upholds protection of unborn

The Supreme Court of Florida on Monday ruled that a law protecting unborn babies after 15 weeks of gestation did not violate the state constitution’s guarantee of privacy. The ACLU, on behalf of several abortion providers, had sued to stop the law from taking effect.

What does this mean? The court’s ruling clears the way for a state law protecting unborn babies after six weeks of gestation, commonly called the Heartbeat Protection Act. Florida’s SB 300 contains a clause that says it will go into effect 30 days after any decision by the state’s supreme court saying the state’s constitution doesn’t grant a right to abortion. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed the bill into law, according to a statement by his office.

Did the court decide anything else? The Florida Supreme Court on Monday approved a measure to put on the state’s upcoming election ballots a proposal for enshrining a right to abortion into the state’s constitution.

The court on Monday also approved another ballot measure that would put it before Florida voters to decide whether recreational marijuana use should be legalized in the state.

Dig deeper: Listen to Leah Savas’ report on The World and Everything in It podcast discussing pro-life efforts to push back on lax regulations for harmful abortion drugs.