The stakes will be high in Florida on Wednesday when the Florida Supreme Court hears arguments on whether Floridians will get to vote in November on a new state law that guarantees abortion access.

The outcome will determine whether voters, or lawmakers, get to decide limits on abortion in Florida.

Floridians Protecting Freedom, a grassroots organization, has gathered and worked for several months to verify enough signatures on a petition to put abortion access on the 2024 ballot in Florida. Voters would decide whether they want to guarantee women in Florida the right to an abortion through a constitutional amendment. Floridians Protecting Freedom reached the required signature threshold last month.

Now the future of abortion access comes down to wording.

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Here’s what voters would read to decide whether to approve or reject the proposed “Amendment to Limit Government Interference on Abortion:” 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.

Is the wording clear enough that voters will understand the implications? That is what will be discussed in front of the state’s justices this week.

Florida’s Attorney General Ashley Moody plans to argue on Wednesday that the wording is not clear, according to a brief she has filed. Moody claims that voters will be confused about what a “healthcare provider” is, how much power they will have to determine what “health” means, and what constitutes “viability” when it comes to a life.

“The ballot summary here is part of a … design to lay ticking time bombs that will enable abortion proponents later to argue that the amendment has a much broader meaning than voters would ever have thought,” she argued in a 50-page brief.

Floridians Protecting Freedom, supported by other reproductive rights organizations, plans to argue the wording is perfectly clear to  voters.

“The proposed amendment is clear and precise in limiting government interference with abortion ‘before viability,’” Floridians Protecting Freedom Campaign Director Lauren Brenzel said in an October written statement. “Viability in the abortion context has always meant the stage of fetal development when the life of a fetus is sustainable outside the womb through standard medical measures. Voters know what viability means, and they will see right through this effort to silence their voice.”

If Moody prevails and the Florida Supreme Court accepts her argument, the right to decide abortion access goes to state lawmakers — at least for now. Already, those lawmakers have voted to restrict abortion in Florida.

After the reversal of Roe v Wade in June 2022 gave authority back to individual states to decide abortion limits, Florida lawmakers approved a 15-week ban that was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis effective July 2022. Previously, women in the state could get abortions up until the 24th week of pregnancy. Then, last year, Florida lawmakers approved a six-week ban. That new six-week restriction would take effect if the Florida Supreme Court upholds the 15-week ban, which is being challenged. While the court hasn’t ruled on that yet, five of the seven justices were appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who endorses the restrictions.

Brenzel says the reason for the proposed 2024 amendment is to give the decision on abortion access back to Floridians. “Floridians have shown they want to see this initiative on the ballot,” she said in a written statement. “All Floridians deserve the freedom to make personal medical decisions, including about abortion, free of government intrusion.”

Most polls show that voters support abortion rights regardless of their party, and recent state voting outcomes have shown that to be true.

Leading up to the oral arguments, both sides of the abortion access debate held media briefings this week to make their voices and perspectives heard.

Committee to Protect Health Care assembled doctors via Zoom to support the ballot intiative and publicize their view that “medical decisions are put back in the hands of patients and their physicians.”  Florida Voice for the Unborn held a rally in Tallahassee to  “demonstrates our united opposition to the abortion industry’s extreme proposal to enshrine the right to abortion (until birth) in our state’s governing document.”

A new state report shows Florida’s 78,250 recorded abortions last year, a drop of about 4,000 from the previous year. However, 2023 was the first full year with the 15-week ban in effect. Of those, 7,100 women traveled to Florida from another state or country to end their pregnancies.

“A six-week ban in Florida would definitely change the entire ecosystem of this work we do,”  Christine Montero, a coordinator for Access Reproductive Care-Southeast told the Orlando Sentinel. The group helps with funding and logistics for Southeast travel for women seeking abortions.

Wednesday’s oral argument to determine whether voters will have a say will be televised live on the Florida Channel Wednesday at 9 a.m.

Sun Sentinel health reporter Cindy Goodman can be reached at .