Trump now must spend even more he does not have
Donald Trump’s campaign got a kick in the teeth on Monday courtesy of Florida Republicans (Mark Joseph Stern, Slate):
The Florida Supreme Court upheld the state’s right to ban abortion on Monday, with devastating consequences for the women of Florida who will live under one of the most draconian abortion bans in the country. With this ruling and two others issued on Monday, however, the court turbocharged the state’s 2024 election, centering the upcoming vote around abortion rights and other personal freedoms. First, by a 6–1 vote, the conservative supermajority abolished the right to abortion under the state constitution, overruling decades of precedent in the process. Its decision greenlights the six-week ban championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Republican legislators, effectively ending legal abortion access throughout the entire South when the ban goes into effect on May 1. Next, by a 4–3 vote, the court allowed a ballot initiative that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution onto November’s ballot; this decision gives voters a chance to overturn the six-week ban and establish Florida as the sole haven for reproductive care in the South. Finally, by a 5-2 vote, the court approved another initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana in the state, rejecting DeSantis’ strenuous effort to keep the question off the ballot. The initiatives on abortion and marijuana will require 60 percent approval to pass.
Florida voter enthusiasm just got a shot of nitro down the carburator.
“Today’s rulings prove exactly what is at stake at the ballot box,” said Nikki Fried, the chair of the Florida Democratic Party. “Florida voters understand that voting yes on Amendment 4 in November is our last line of defense.”
The abortion ban ruling will have a dual effect on abortion access in Florida. While the case centered on the constitutionality of the state’s existing 15-week ban, which took effect in the summer of 2022, the court’s ruling will also trigger a far stricter law passed last spring that will outlaw abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before many people know they’re pregnant. Florida’s six-week ban was written to take effect only if the Supreme Court greenlit the 15-week law.
Over 84,000 people got abortions in Florida last year, exceeding almost any other state. The amendment will give voters a chance to reverse the ban.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody (R) objected to the language in the proposed amendment, saying it was too broad. But in their ruling Monday, the justices wrote that the amendment’s intent and potential scope were more than clear.
“The broad sweep of this proposed amendment is obvious in the language of the summary,” they wrote. “Denying this requires a flight from reality.”
Ignoring for a moment that Republicans’ flight left the airport years ago, “the trio of decisions constitutes a legal and political earthquake,” writes Stern. “Democrats could not have asked for a better set of issues to campaign on.”
Stern continues:
As governor, DeSantis frequently touts his staunch advocacy for freedom, pitching Florida as a refuge for liberty-loving Americans who just want to be let alone. Monday’s decisions, though, highlight his passion for wielding the machinery of the state to interfere with some of the most private decisions a person can make. In seven months, Floridians will have an opportunity to undo both his assault on reproductive rights and his war against legal marijuana if they can reach the 60 percent threshold. These issues are bound to dominate the discourse leading into the election, and Republicans’ positions on both poll terribly with the electorate. A large majority of Americans support legal access to both abortion and cannabis. Florida Democrats are already planning to put these topics at the center of their campaign. It’s no wonder DeSantis fought to keep them from getting a vote. Individual freedom will be on the ballot in November, decided through a democratic process that the governor tried relentlessly to obstruct.
The Biden-Harris campaign released this statement yesterday declaring Florida Ground Zero for Trump’s MAGA Blueprint:
President Biden’s Opening in Florida – “Team Biden-Harris enters the general election cycle in a position of strength. Because our agenda is strong and a proven winner, because our coalition is broad and diverse, and because of our strong financial footing, we are entering the general election with multiple pathways to 270 electoral votes – something Team Trump is not afforded. That includes investing in Florida as a pathway to victory: a state where President Biden has a compelling story of results, Trump and Rick Scott’s extreme agenda is making Floridians’ lives worse, and the Democratic coalition is growing and energized.
Abortion Rights Will Be Front and Center in Florida This Election Cycle
Florida’s Supreme Court just issued a ruling allowing Ron DeSantis’ near-total abortion ban to go into effect next month, ripping away access to reproductive care before many women know they are pregnant. This new, extreme abortion ban – one that Donald Trump personally paved the way for – will now amount to a ban for the entire Southeast. Women in need of reproductive care throughout the region now face a choice between putting their lives at risk or traveling hundreds or thousands of miles to get care.
As we’ve seen in election after election, protecting abortion rights is mobilizing a diverse and growing segment of voters to help buoy Democrats up and down the ballot. With an abortion amendment officially on the ballot this November in Florida, President Biden and Vice President Harris and their commitment to fighting back against Donald Trump and Rick Scott’s attacks on reproductive freedom will help mobilize and expand the electorate in the state, given the overwhelming majority of Floridians support abortion rights. And Florida Republicans will be forced to defend their cruel, indefensible support of this abortion ban.
The rulings mean Donald Trump will have to spend more time and more money he doesn’t have in Florida. He’ll have to work for it. And he’s not one for working.
Biden-Harris released a new ad taking the abortion fight to Trump. The bans are as much a loser for women as they are for him.
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