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When a Republican Governor Couldn't Win on Abortion, He Tried to Cheat
NYT - Gift LinkFlorida Republicans couldn’t keep an abortion amendment off the ballot — they lost that fight in the State Supreme Court in April. So Gov. Ron DeSantis is using other means to dissuade people from voting yes on Amendment 4, which would allow abortion until fetal viability (typically around 24 weeks). The state’s current law, passed by the Florida Legislature in April 2023, bans abortion after six weeks, which is before many women even know they’re pregnant.
The Tampa Bay Times has reported on several instances of Florida’s “election police” showing up at the homes of people who signed the petition to get Amendment 4 on the ballot. The state claims that it’s looking for fraud, but Amendment 4 supporters see such actions as threatening. Florida, where Republicans have controlled state government for decades, created a state-funded agency with 15 employees and a budget of over $1 million to go after voter fraud in 2022. This is a terrible use of taxpayer money, as voter fraud is quite rare and “voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent,” as The Brennan Center for Justice puts it.
Furthermore, according to The Tampa Bay Times, the “deadline in state law to challenge the validity of the signatures has long passed.” Isaac Menasche, who got a visit from the election police, posted on Facebook that “The experience left me shaken,” and went on to write, “What troubled me was he had a folder on me containing my personal information — about 10 pages.”
Republicans know that strict abortion laws like those in Florida are unpopular. Two-thirds of Americans think that abortion should be legal in the first trimester, and the majority believe that striking down Roe v. Wade was the wrong decision. At the national level, G.O.P. leaders are trying to pretend that they are not maximally anti-abortion by claiming it’s an issue that should be left up to the states. Anna Paulina Luna, who has previously described herself as a “pro-life extremist,” is running for re-election in a Florida congressional district that Democrats are trying to flip and so refuses to say how she will vote on Amendment 4. She told Politico last week, “I think it’s a states’ rights issue.”
This is something Donald Trump has said when he’s not spinning fantasies about liberals executing babies or refusing to straightforwardly answer questions about whether he would veto a national abortion ban if re-elected. “states’ rights” is sometimes code for “let the voters decide.” But Florida is what a states’ rights approach to abortion looks like in practice: taking anti-democratic measures to keep the voters from getting a say.
The Tampa Bay Times has reported on several instances of Florida’s “election police” showing up at the homes of people who signed the petition to get Amendment 4 on the ballot. The state claims that it’s looking for fraud, but Amendment 4 supporters see such actions as threatening. Florida, where Republicans have controlled state government for decades, created a state-funded agency with 15 employees and a budget of over $1 million to go after voter fraud in 2022. This is a terrible use of taxpayer money, as voter fraud is quite rare and “voter impersonation is virtually nonexistent,” as The Brennan Center for Justice puts it.
Furthermore, according to The Tampa Bay Times, the “deadline in state law to challenge the validity of the signatures has long passed.” Isaac Menasche, who got a visit from the election police, posted on Facebook that “The experience left me shaken,” and went on to write, “What troubled me was he had a folder on me containing my personal information — about 10 pages.”
Republicans know that strict abortion laws like those in Florida are unpopular. Two-thirds of Americans think that abortion should be legal in the first trimester, and the majority believe that striking down Roe v. Wade was the wrong decision. At the national level, G.O.P. leaders are trying to pretend that they are not maximally anti-abortion by claiming it’s an issue that should be left up to the states. Anna Paulina Luna, who has previously described herself as a “pro-life extremist,” is running for re-election in a Florida congressional district that Democrats are trying to flip and so refuses to say how she will vote on Amendment 4. She told Politico last week, “I think it’s a states’ rights issue.”
This is something Donald Trump has said when he’s not spinning fantasies about liberals executing babies or refusing to straightforwardly answer questions about whether he would veto a national abortion ban if re-elected. “states’ rights” is sometimes code for “let the voters decide.” But Florida is what a states’ rights approach to abortion looks like in practice: taking anti-democratic measures to keep the voters from getting a say.