(AFP) – Voters in the US state of Florida cast their ballots Tuesday against a measure that would have overturned the state’s ban on abortion after six weeks and allowed the procedure until fetal viability, media reported.
The ballot initiative, which US networks ABC and NBC said had failed, was held alongside the presidential election. It had required at least 60 percent of votes cast in order to pass, a high hurdle to clear in the conservative southeastern state.
The defeat marks a hard blow for abortion rights advocates who had hoped Florida, which is surrounded by states with stringent restrictions, could have once again become a destination for those seeking the procedure in the US southeast.
Abortion rights proponents argue that many women still do not know they are pregnant at six weeks. The extension until fetal viability would have allowed the procedure until approximately 24 weeks.
Florida was one of ten states with abortion referendums on the ballot Tuesday, almost all of which were aimed at safeguarding the right to the procedure or reversing restrictions adopted since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion.
© 2024 AFP
