Ron DeSantis is making a concerted effort to maintain strict restrictions on abortion access in Florida as the right-wing Republican governor launches a “state-led intimidation campaign” against abortion rights. and has led to accusations that it tramples on civil liberties in the state.
A near-total ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy went into effect in Florida in May after the Florida Supreme Court ruled that the right to abortion is no longer subject to the privacy clause of the Florida Constitution. .
If passed, the bill, known as the Fourth Amendment, would change the state constitution to bar the government from interfering with the right to an abortion before the fetus is viable, which typically begins around the 24th week of pregnancy.
But registered voters in Florida have recently reported unannounced visits by law enforcement officers, which DeSantis has used state agencies and public funds to protect from the Fourth Amendment to the state constitution. This appears to be part of an overall effort to prevent the passage of the Article. A woman’s right to an abortion.
Isaac Menashe’s experience is a warning. In early September, Menashe received an unexpected visitor at his home in the Florida Gulf Coast city of Fort Myers. It was a plainclothes detective wearing a badge and carrying a folder filled with documents containing Menashe’s personal information.
Among them is a copy of his driver’s license and a petition he signed at a local farmers market several months ago on behalf of the movement to qualify for a pro-choice referendum on the statewide ballot in this year’s general election. It contained a book.
The detective who showed up at Menashe’s door wanted to know why the signature on the petition didn’t match the signature on his driver’s license. The 71-year-old retired lawyer acknowledged that point, but explained that the signatures may differ. The officer left shortly thereafter.
“The experience shocked me,” the New Jersey native wrote on his Facebook page the same day. “It was clear that a great deal of effort had been made to determine whether I had indeed signed the petition. It is troubling that so many resources were spent on this.”
DeSantis initially asked the Florida Supreme Court to declare the voting law unconstitutional, saying the language was vague and misleading. When that strategy failed last April, Mr. DeSantis reversed course. In July, top state election officials announced they would investigate possible fraud in tens of thousands of petition signatures collected in four counties in support of Amendment 4.
In recent weeks, the state Healthcare Administration Agency (AHCA) launched a website opposing the initiative on the grounds that it “endangers women’s safety.” It also spent millions of dollars on television ads urging Florida voters to reject the amendment.
“There is a state-sponsored intimidation campaign aimed at scaring Floridians from voicing their support for abortion access,” said Keisha Malfort, spokeswoman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. A spokesperson for the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed a lawsuit earlier this month seeking to halt AHCA’s anti-government activities. – Fix 4 media campaign.
“Florida’s leadership has made it clear that it does not trust women to make decisions about their own health care,” she added. “They will do everything they can to prove that they do not support the democratic process, including sending law enforcement officers to civilians’ homes.”
DeSantis recently defended the state-funded anti-change website and television ads as “public service announcements” similar to those created by the Florida Department of Transportation to encourage safe driving.
“It’s being used by AHCA agencies to basically provide accurate information to the public,” the governor said at a roundtable on Sept. 9 outside Miami. “Everything that’s been published is true. It’s been going on for decades, it’s not campaigning, it’s not inappropriate in any way.”
The AHCA Communications Department did not respond to a list of written questions submitted by the Guardian regarding the department’s website and electronic media campaign. The governor’s communications director, Brian Griffin, declined the Guardian’s request for an interview with DeSantis, saying the paper was “completely absorbed in left-wing activism and doing nothing to actually inform the public.” insisted.
Under a law passed by the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature, voting measures must be approved by 60% of voters, and Fourth Amendment advocates are planning to vote on Nov. 5. He says he is confident that he will meet that standard in the upcoming general election.
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To strengthen his case for pro-choice amendments, DeSantis has even questioned the legitimacy of passing laws by referendum, even though that mechanism is allowed by the state constitution.
“Through elections, we take power away from the people by who we elect and who we let legislate,” he said at a recent press conference. “This is effectively going to go to court and there will be 25 years’ worth of litigation over what these terms mean.”
In a letter dated January 25, the Florida Department of Elections said six organizations supporting the pro-choice referendum had collected enough valid signatures to place the proposed constitutional amendment on the November ballot. confirmed.
But six months later, the deputy director of the state government department said in a letter that the Palm Beach County Elections Department provided him with “alarming information” about “fraudulent constitutional initiative petitions” filed by 35 people. The agency said it had received it. A person who was hired to gather signatures on behalf of the Fourth Amendment.
This apparent attempt to reopen the issue of signature validity has been replicated in three other Florida counties, with an estimated 36,000 signatures as of two weeks ago, and DeSantis It is being reviewed by the Election Fraud Unit established by the signed law. .
Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartree Link received an email four weeks ago from Deputy Secretary of State Brad McVeigh stating that his office had certified 17,637 petitions as valid last winter. We asked them to consider the document.
The election administrator said McVeigh’s request was “not common practice” that she had experienced in the five years since DeSantis appointed her to the position. Link is running for re-election as a Democrat this year, but she suggested the entire exercise could be academic at this point.
“That doesn’t really apply to us,” she said. “This initiative has been certified and is on our ballot.”
