Did you know that the Florida constitution no longer protects the privacy of all Floridians?

Loving parents should be involved when their daughters face crisis pregnancies, and every parent hopes that a child confronting a crisis will seek the advice and counsel of those who care for her most and know her best.   However, on November 2, 2004, a confusing and misleading initiative appeared on Florida voters' ballots.  The initiative, which passed by a two-to-one margin, strips young women's right to privacy from the Florida's constitution by exempting mandatory parental notification laws for abortion.   It is the first time in Florida history that the state constitution has been amended to deny a fundamental right to Florida citizens.

Anti-choice legislators have twice passed legislation restricting the rights of minors by mandating parental involvement.  The Florida Supreme Court has found both laws unconstitutional and has prevented their enforcement.  To circumvent these pesky holdings of the Florida Supreme Court, anti-choice legislators simply erased young women's privacy from the Constitution, and enacted another law mandating parental notification that was upheld by the Florida Supreme Court. 

North Fla. Women’s Health & Counseling Servs., Inc. v. State, No. SC01-843, 2003 WL 21546546, at 2 (Fla. July 10, 2003); Fla. Const. art. I, § 23; Mary Ellen Klas, Voters Kill Fast Train, OK Abortion Notices, Miami Herald, Nov. 3, 2004; Jackie Hallifax, Voters Get Say Over Parental Notice of Teen Abortions, Florida Times-Union, Nov. 2, 2004.