Florida Supreme Court clears way for 6-week abortion ban, but voters will decide issue

Geoff Bennett:

Now to a major development in the fight over abortion access.

The Florida Supreme Court late Monday paved the way for the state's six-week abortion ban to take effect. But the justices in a separate ruling said Florida voters will be able to decide on a constitutional amendment protecting abortion access in November.

Lynda Bell is president of Florida Right to Life, one of the state's largest anti-abortion groups, and she joins us now.

Thank you for being with us.

Lynda Bell, President, Florida Right to Life: You're welcome. It's my pleasure.

Geoff Bennett:

What's your assessment of this decision by the state's Supreme Court, on the one hand paving the way for the six-week abortion ban to become law in Florida in 30 days, while giving Florida voters the final say in November?

Lynda Bell:

Yes, it seems a little bit contradictory.

But in light of the fact that we thought the privacy clause in the Florida Constitution would be stricken — and so, basically, the 15-week bill was challenged based on the fact that they used privacy in the Florida Constitution to say that privacy includes abortion.

The Supreme Court said, no, it does not. It does not include that. It was never meant to include that. So they ruled that. So once the 15-week bill was upheld, that allowed for the six-week bill that was passed last year and signed by our governor — so that was what happened there.

Now, the other decision went 4-3, with the three women dissenting against the four men. And the three women thought that the ballot language should be struck because of the ambiguity and how vague and how actually deceptive it was.

And even the majority, in the majority opinion, even in their opinion that I was reading, it ruled that, while it was quite ambiguous and vague, that it still shouldn't be struck, which really struck me very much. And I love the three women, their dissent. I have actually put their quotes in my press release because they're saying that you expect us to not use the fact that we have used facts that we have used in the past under previous decisions.

But let me just say this. This language is very dangerous. And it has loopholes enough for an elephant to go through.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, let me ask you this, Ms. Bell, because abortion had once been broadly accessible in Florida. But Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has now signed two major abortion bans, initially one starting at 15 weeks and more recently one starting at six weeks, before most women even know that they're pregnant.

And Donald Trump has described a six-week ban as — quote — "a terrible thing and a terrible mistake." Why can't Republicans and anti-abortion advocates find consensus on an acceptable path forward, when overturning Roe had been a decades-long pursuit among conservatives and anti-abortion activists?

Lynda Bell:

Well, we pro-lifers — we like to be called pro-lifers, rather than anti-abortion. But we are pro-life.

Now, the anti-life community, they want abortion. It doesn't matter. They don't care. They want abortion through birth. So they want unfettered access.

Geoff Bennett:

Ms. Bell, that's not true.

Lynda Bell:

It's — this language right here does not stop that, because everything is to be determined by the health care provider.

So the health care provider, when it says viability, what that means is, it's going to be determined by the health care provider. So abortion literally could go through birth. That is absolutely a fact.

Now, jumping into your specific question, the six-week bill provided for rape, incest, life of the mother, medical emergency, fetal anomaly. So there were very many exceptions in there for women who needed to have an abortion procedure in these very dangerous situations for them, because we're not just pro-baby. We're pro-woman. And we don't want any woman to experience anything that would be dangerous for them.

So we in the pro-life community, we love them both. We love both the babies and their moms.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, let me ask you this, because the data is clear that states with more abortion restrictions have higher rates of maternal and infant mortality.

How are those outcomes consistent with your organization's stated goal of protecting the sanctity of life?

Lynda Bell:

Well, I don't know that that data is absolutely correct, and so I'd love to challenge that data as well. In fact, I'm going to look into that data.

(Crosstalk)

Geoff Bennett:

It's from the Commonwealth Fund. It's an independent research organization focused on health policy.

Lynda Bell:

Yes, I'd like to look at their base data first, because we have seen so many polls and so much data out that is very factually flawed. So I'd love to take a look at that, because I'm telling you, this amendment right here is dangerous for girls, it's dangerous for women, and it does nothing to protect anybody.

What it does, it does — it's not a pro-woman. It's not a pro-girl. It is nothing but pro-abortion.

Geoff Bennett:

When this six-week ban takes effect, how life-threatening must a pregnancy be to end it legally?

Lynda Bell:

Rape, incest, life of the mother, medical emergency, fetal anomaly. I mean, anything that would be considered a situation, any kind of dangerous situation, that woman can have an abortion immediately.

So, every single base was covered when it comes to protecting women's lives.

Geoff Bennett:

That is Lynda Bell, president of Florida Right to Life.

Thanks for your time this evening.

Lynda Bell:

Thank you.