House Democrats will hold a high-profile event in Florida today on protecting abortion access. It will mark the start of a six-month campaign to mobilize voters in the Sunshine State ahead of the November election.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will headline what Democrats are calling a “field hearing” in Broward County, meeting with Florida women who have been impacted by the state’s restrictive abortion laws.
Jeffries will be joined by Florida Democratic Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Maxwell Frost, Darren Soto, Jared Moskowitz and Kathy Castor, as well as Reps. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
“The next six months are going to be brutal,” Wasserman Schultz told us in an interview Monday. “The consequence of the November election is not going to just affect our voters, it’s going to affect voters across the south.”
The hearing comes a day after the Florida Supreme Court upheld a 15-week abortion ban in the state, clearing the way for a six-week ban to go into effect May 1.
At the same time, the state’s high court will allow a proposed amendment on the November ballot that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida constitution.
Democrats won big from capitalizing on abortion access in the 2022 midterms — the same year the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and triggered a wave of state-led abortion bans.
Statewide ballot measures to enshrine and protect abortion rights have also been successful in places like Kentucky, Kansas, Ohio and Michigan.
Several other states are seeking to put similar initiatives on the November ballot that would amend state constitutions to protect abortion access.
Democrats are hoping that the issue will again help drive voter turnout across the country — even potentially making GOP-leaning Florida competitive in the state’s Senate race.
At today’s hearing, Kildee will discuss how Michigan successfully enshrined abortion rights into the state’s constitution in 2022, according to prepared remarks obtained by Punchbowl News.
The proposed amendment in Florida needs 60% support to pass. If successful, the proposal would permit abortions in the state until “viability” or about 24 weeks.
— Mica Soellner
