The Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, and Stephen Wolf, with additional contributions from the Daily Kos Elections team.
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● FL Ballot: The Florida Supreme Court on Monday gave the green light for a proposed constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights to appear on the November ballot. The court's conservative majority, though, heightened the stakes of that vote with a separate decision that allows a new six-week abortion ban approved by Gov. Ron DeSantis to take effect in the next 30 days.
To amend the state constitution, reproductive rights advocates need at least 60% of voters this fall to vote "yes" on their amendment to guarantee the right to an abortion until fetal viability, which is 22 to 24 weeks into a pregnancy. State election authorities confirmed in January that the campaign had collected the requisite signatures, but Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody argued that the measure was confusingly worded.
The justices, however, disagreed. "The people of Florida aren’t stupid," Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz said at oral arguments in February. "They can figure this out." The decision makes this the first voter-initiated ballot measure on abortion to make the 2024 ballot anywhere in the nation.
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