U.S. House Minority leader Jeffries to appear at congressional hearing on abortion rights in FL

U.S. House Democrats intend to make abortion a major issue in Florida later this week, regardless of which way the Florida Supreme Court rules on a proposed constitutional amendment regarding abortion rights getting on the November ballot. The high court in Tallahassee is expected to rule on Monday at 4 p.m.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries will be in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday to co-lead a congressional field hearing to discuss issues of reproductive freedom, according to a press release issued Monday from the office of Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She will be co-leading the hearing with Jeffries.

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra also will be among those to testify at the hearing convened by the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. Two other members of that committee – California’s Barbara Lee and Michigan’s Dan Kildee, are also scheduled to appear Tuesday.

Officials at the hearing are expected to discuss Florida’s current reproductive laws.

Florida lawmakers passed legislation two years ago restricting a woman’s right to an abortion to the first 15 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. They went further in 2023, passing a six-week ban, with exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking up until 6 weeks. The 15-week ban has been legally challenged but remains the current law. If the Florida Supreme Court affirms the 15-week law, the law would change to six weeks shortly afterwards.

The hearing provides members of Congress “a chance to engage with women denied necessary health care and community leaders in this fight to hear from them directly on what more must be done to protect reproductive freedom,” according to the press release.

Field hearings are congressional hearings held outside Washington D.C., according to the Congressional Research Service. They are designed to gather information for use by the committee in its activities.

The Florida Supreme Court has the responsibility of determining whether the language that will be on the ballot is clear and limited to a single subject.

Florida Democrats are hoping that the addition of that measure on the ballot may help boost turnout and energize their base in the fall elections. If the ballot language is rejected by the high court, they will likely make the argument that the voices of Floridians are being ignored by the Florida Supreme Court, the majority of whom were appointed to the bench by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“We are waiting for 4:00 PM today to hear from the Florida Supreme Court – and whether or not the voices of 1.4 million Republicans, Democrats, and Independents will be heard,” Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a newsletter sent to Democrats on Monday morning.

Hakeem Jeffries was unanimously elected the House Democratic Leader by his colleagues in November 2022, succeeding Nancy Pelosi.

Tuesday’s congressional field hearing will take place at the Broward County Government Center.