By Brendan Pierson
(Reuters) - Florida state economists can warn voters that a proposed amendment to the state constitution establishing a right to abortion could reduce state revenues, the state's highest court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting a lawsuit by the abortion rights group behind the measure.
The Florida Supreme Court found that the state's Financial Impact Estimating Conference (FIEC), which is charged with estimating the financial impact of ballot measures, was entitled to issue its statement last month.
The ruling means that voters will see a warning on the ballot that the measure would lead to more abortions, possibly paid for with state funds, and fewer births, potentially reducing the state's revenues.
"This ruling, allowing an unauthorized and unlawful financial impact statement to stand, is a direct affront to the rights of Florida voters, who deserve accurate and lawful information when making decisions on constitutional amendments," Michelle Morton of the ACLU of Florida, a lawyer for amendment sponsor Floridians Protecting Freedom, said in a statement.
When the abortion rights amendment was first proposed last September by the group, FIEC said it could not estimate its financial impact because the state of abortion law was in flux, with a pending legal challenge to separate laws banning abortion after 15 and six weeks.
In April, the Florida Supreme Court allowed both the six-week ban to take effect and the abortion rights amendment to appear on the ballot for the upcoming Nov. 5 national election. Following that order, Floridians Protecting Freedom successfully asked a court to order FIEC to reconsider its statement.
However, the state's Republican-controlled legislature also instructed FIEC to reconvene and issue a new statement.
In July, FIEC issued its statement warning of costs to taxpayers. Floridians Protecting Freedom sued, claiming that it did so unlawfully without going through a court-ordered review.
The Florida Supreme Court, rejecting that argument, said the group could not challenge the revision now, because it had "actively participated in every step of the revision process without objection," offering oral and written comments at FIEC's meetings.
The ruling comes a day after Arizona's Supreme Court rejected a challenge to an abortion rights ballot measure in that state by an anti-abortion group, and Montana's secretary of state certified an abortion rights amendment there.
All three measures would establish a right to abortion until fetal viability, generally considered to be around 24 weeks. Abortion is already legal until viability in Montana due to a 1999 ruling by the state's top court, but is banned after 15 weeks in Arizona.
Abortion will be on the ballot in at least nine states for the November election, including battleground states likely to play critical roles in the presidential race and the fight for control of Congress.
Voters have chosen to protect or expand abortion access in all seven statewide ballot measures put to a vote since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 eliminated the nationwide right to abortion, including in conservative strongholds such as Ohio, Kentucky and Kansas.
(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Jonathan Oatis)
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