State v. Presidential Women's Center

884 So. 2d 526, 2004 WL 2290364
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 13, 2004
Docket4D02-4485
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 884 So. 2d 526 (State v. Presidential Women's Center) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Presidential Women's Center, 884 So. 2d 526, 2004 WL 2290364 (Fla. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

884 So.2d 526 (2004)

STATE of Florida, Attorney General, Charles J. Crist, Jr., in his official capacity, Florida Department of Health, John Agwunobi, M.D., Secretary, in his official capacity, and Florida Board of Medicine, Appellants,
v.
PRESIDENTIAL WOMEN'S CENTER, Michael Benjamin, M.D., North Florida Women's Health and Counseling Services, Inc., et al., Appellees.

No. 4D02-4485.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

October 13, 2004.

*529 Charles J. Crist, Jr., Attorney General, James Peters, Special Counsel, and John Rimes, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for appellants.

William W. Large, Tallahassee, for appellants Department of Health and Secretary John Agwunobi.

Matthew D. Staver, Erik W. Stanley and Anita L. Staver of Liberty Counsel, Longwood, and Teresa Stanton Collett, Minneapolis, MN, for Amicus Curiae Christian Medical Association and Catholic Medical Association.

Barry M. Silver, Boca Raton, for appellee North Florida Women's Health & Counseling Services, Inc.

Marshall J. Osofsky of Moyle, Flanigan, Katz, Raymond and Sheehan, P.A., West Palm Beach, and Bebe J. Anderson, New York, NY, for appellees Presidential Women's Center and Michael J. Benjamin, M.D.

Donna Lee of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, New York, NY, for Amicus Curiae Florida Association of Planned Parenthood Affiliates, Planned Parenthood of Northeast Florida, Inc., Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, Inc., Planned Parenthood of South Palm Beach & Broward Counties, Inc., Planned Parenthood of North Central Florida, Inc., Planned Parenthood of the Palm Beach and Treasure Coast Area, Inc., Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando, Inc., American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and American Civil Liberties Union Reproductive Freedom Project.

STEVENSON, J.

We have for review the trial court's order granting summary judgment in favor of Appellees, Presidential Women's Center, Michael Benjamin, M.D., and North Florida Women's Health and Counseling Services, Inc. (collectively Presidential Women's Center), and finding unconstitutional Florida's abortion informed-consent statute, also known as the "Women's Right to Know Act" (the Act). See § 390.0111, Fla. Stat. (1997); Ch. 97-151, § 1, Laws of Fla. (CS/HB 1205). We affirm.

The Act prohibits the termination of all pregnancies except where the physician performing the procedure or the referring physician, at a minimum, orally and in-person informs the woman of certain statutorily mandated information and obtains her written consent.[1] We first reviewed a challenge to the Act when the trial court *530 granted Presidential Women's Center's amended emergency motion for temporary injunction, enjoining appellant, the State of Florida (State), from enforcing the Act. We affirmed the trial court's order granting the temporary injunction because we found two provisions of the Act, in particular, to be "sufficiently problematic ... to leave the temporary injunction in place." State v. Presidential Women's Ctr., 707 So.2d 1145, 1151 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)(Presidential Women's Center I).

On remand, both Presidential Women's Center and the State filed motions for summary judgment. The trial court granted Presidential Women's Center's motion for summary judgment, finding that the Act violates Florida's constitutionally protected right to privacy because it impermissibly intrudes upon the woman's right to choose at every stage of her pregnancy without furthering a compelling State interest. The trial court also found the statute to be unconstitutionally vague because it required the physician performing the abortion to satisfy a unique and confusing "reasonable patient" standard. Additionally, the trial court concluded that the issue was ripe for summary judgment since the Act was unconstitutional on its face.

We first address the State's argument that summary judgment was improper because a factual record could be developed to demonstrate that the Act will not result in an increased cost to the woman, will cause no intrusion on the physician's practice and allows the physician discretion. We acknowledge that the constitutionality of a statute can present a mixed question of fact and law depending upon the nature of the statute involved and the scope of its threatened operation. See Glendale Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. State, Dep't of Ins., 485 So.2d 1321, 1324-25 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986). Further, the requirement that a woman give what is truly a voluntary and informed consent to a medical procedure, as a general proposition, is also proper and not unconstitutional. See In re T.W., 551 So.2d 1186, 1197 (Fla.1989). However, we find, as the trial court did, that even if the State could develop factual evidence in support of each of its positions, as a matter of law, the Act is unconstitutional because, on its face, it imposes significant obstacles and burdens upon the pregnant woman which improperly intrude upon the exercise of her choice between abortion and childbirth.

The substantive law on abortion in Florida does not mirror that of the federal law. In T.W., the Florida Supreme Court noted that, unlike the federal Constitution, "Florida is unusual in that it is one of at least four states having its own express constitutional provision guaranteeing an independent right to privacy." Id. at 1190. As a result, the Florida Supreme Court has, on more than one occasion, stated that the Florida Constitution "embraces more privacy interests, and extends more protection to the individual in those interests, than does the federal Constitution." Id. at 1191-92 (citing Winfield v. Div. of Pari-Mutuel Wagering, Dep't of Bus. Regulation, 477 So.2d 544, 548 (Fla.1985)).

Florida courts apply the highly stringent "strict scrutiny" standard in determining whether a legislative enactment *531 impermissibly infringes on the right to privacy:

"Since the privacy section as adopted contains no textual standard of review, it is important for us to identify an explicit standard to be applied in order to give proper force and effect to the amendment. The right of privacy is a fundamental right which we believe demands the compelling state interest standard. This test shifts the burden of proof to the state to justify an intrusion on privacy. The burden can be met by demonstrating that the challenged regulation serves a compelling state interest and accomplishes its goal through the use of the least intrusive means."

T.W., 551 So.2d at 1192 (quoting Winfield, 477 So.2d at 547).

Florida courts have further found that Florida's privacy provision is implicated in a woman's decision of whether or not to continue her pregnancy. See id. at 1192. See also Renee B. v. Fla. Agency for Health Care Admin., 790 So.2d 1036, 1041 (Fla.2001)(stating "[t]he right of privacy in the Florida Constitution protects a woman's right to choose an abortion"). In this respect, the Florida Supreme Court recently reaffirmed that the trimester framework announced in Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 93 S.Ct. 705, 35 L.Ed.2d 147 (1973), rather than the "undue burden" standard delineated in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833, 112 S.Ct.

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Related

State v. Presidential Women's Center
937 So. 2d 114 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2006)

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Bluebook (online)
884 So. 2d 526, 2004 WL 2290364, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-presidential-womens-center-fladistctapp-2004.