We now wait to see how this works and the effects on the states politics….
Axios gives a a more detailed state of things in Florida….
Perhaps the biggest political question in Florida, though, is just how much abortion might swing the election. Is it unique enough to turn around a state that has trended reliably Republican?
The proposed constitutional amendment, known as Amendment 4, would allow abortions “before viability,” or up to about 24 weeks, and would need more than 60 percent support to pass. That threshold is high, especially in the face of an organized opposition campaign characterizing the language as too far-reaching.
“The average Floridian, when they hear the truth about this extreme amendment, they will vote it down,” State Representative Jenna Persons-Mulicka, a Fort Myers Republican, said last month.
But some Floridians, including some Republicans, have wondered whether a relentless pursuit of divisive policies ahead of Mr. DeSantis’s presidential run might now be forcing a bit of recalibration to be more in line with the state’s diverse electorate.
The governor and Republican lawmakers pursued fewer culture war fights during this year’s legislative session. They made it harder for residents to file book challenges in schools. The state also settled a lawsuit filed by opponents of a law prohibiting instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity through the eighth grade.
“We’re very much Middle America,” said the Rev. Sarah Robinson, pastor of the Audubon Park Covenant Church in Orlando, who attended a “Yes on 4” rally last month. “Middle-class people who are trying to raise families and care for their communities. And there are definitely things that they’d rather be doing than fighting these policies.”
National Democrats have expressed optimism that the abortion ballot measure could put Florida in play, despite no clear commitment of how much money the party is willing to spend in the state and a substantial Democratic disadvantage in voter registrations. President Biden briefly spoke about the six-week ban in Tampa last week, and Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to Jacksonville to draw attention to the state ban on Wednesday.
“There is one person responsible for this nightmare: Donald Trump,” Mr. Biden said in a statement about the ban….