Lauren Book, Abortion Coalition Moves Step Closer to Abortion on 2024 Ballot in Florida

State Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book (D-FL) has made another announcement regarding the progress of abortion getting on the ballot in the state of Florida in 2024. On Dec. 22, she declared that the issue is “on track” for voters to decide on in November.

Initially, the Florida state senator showcased the abortion coalition’s progress that’s been made to get the issue in front of voters come November.

“BIG news: Florida is ON TRACK to put abortion on the ballot in 2024! We’ve got MORE than 1.4M petitions collected to put abortion on the ballot — we need 891,523 verified petitions, and we’re over collecting to be safe not sorry! 93% of the needed petitions have been VERIFIED by Supervisors of Elections (the verification process will continue into the new year!),” said State Sen. Book.

She continued providing evidence of the success of the movement and said that this was their “moment” to capitalize on.

“12 of 14 Congressional Districts have OFFICIALLY met the threshold of # of VERIFIED petitions needed to qualify for statewide geographic spread — we’re confident we’ve collected what we need, pending SOE verification! This is our fight … this is our moment … and WE WILL WIN!” said Book.

Now, Congressional District 23 (held by Representative Jared Moskowitz, D-FL) has become the 13^th district to approve, moving the issue one step closer to qualification.

“BIG NEWS: Thanks to all of the incredible volunteers & our RFC (Reproductive Freedom Clinic) Broward team, CD 23 has officially qualified as one of the 14 needed congressional districts to put abortion on the ballot!” said Sen. Book.

She continued, “Stay tuned for more information as supervisors of elections across the state continue to verify the more than 1.4 Million petitions we’ve collected! For now, we celebrate each win & recommit to this important fight!”

In October, The Floridian obtained a petition that was being circulated during a political event at Florida State University.

Per the petition, no Florida law will “prohibit” or “restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health.

This is how the potential amendment will read if pro-choice activists manage to get the required 800,000 signatures needed to get the measure placed on the ballot.

“No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider. This amendment does not change the Legislature’s constitutional authority to require notification to a parent or guardian before a minor has an abortion.”

In April of 2023, Governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed legislation that banned abortions after six weeks. It passed by a vote of 26-13 in the State Senate and 70-40 in the State House of Representatives.

After the decision from the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, states around the country have had their own say on the abortion issue.