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On September 8, 2023, the Florida Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case brought by several pro-abortion groups challenging the constitutionality of Florida's 15-week abortion ban. A restriction on abortions after 15-weeks gestation was passed by the Florida legislature and signed into law by Governor DeSantis in April 2022. Join us in prayer from August 31 - September 8.

An extremely grave initiative is underway in Florida that seeks to erase pro-life protections by banning government regulation of abortion in our state constitution. A network of abortion activists are working to gather petition signatures to have a pro-abortion constitutional amendment, titled Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion, placed on the statewide ballot in the November 2024 election. In order to do so, they need nearly 900,000 signatures and are working right now in communities across Florida to collect them. 

Having recently celebrated the Eucharistic Pilgrimage: The Gift of Sacred Mystery at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe, Bishop Noonan invited his brother bishops across the state to share their wisdom for the people about the Eucharist, the Gift of Sacred Mystery. The Florida bishops had gathered at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Plenary Assembly at the Omni Championsgate June 14-16.  

The 2023 Regular Session of the Florida Legislature came to a close (sine die) at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, May 5. The motion to adjourn sine die, Latin for 'without day,' is the last action of a session of the Florida legislature. Our final summary of the legislative session provides the status of budget priorities and concerns and bills actively engaged by the FCCB.

The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB) has requested that Gov. Ron DeSantis stay the execution of Darryl Barwick and commute his sentence to life without parole. Barwick is scheduled to be executed on May 3, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. for the 1986 murder of Rebecca Wendt in Panama City, Florida.

SB 1580 (Trumbull) was approved by the Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday by a 14-5 vote and is now available to be taken up by the full Senate. FCCB's Mike Barrett was present at the committee meeting and indicated FCCB's support for the bill. "We must remember that we live in a diverse society, and protecting diverse viewpoints even in the medical process protects access to care for patients," said bill sponsor Senator Trumbull.

Christie Arnold, associate for social concerns and respect life, testified in opposition to HB 1267 (Fernandez-Barquin) before the House Commerce Committee. HB 1267 and SB 580 (Gruters) would create an increase of interest rates between 6% and 18% on what are already high-cost installment loans for consumers who are often in acute financial distress.

Today, the Florida legislature passed a bill to replace current law that requires juries in capital cases to be unanimous when recommending a death sentence. Michael Sheedy, executive director for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB) issued the following statement: “It is stunning that the Florida legislature would weaken a common-sense law passed just six years ago that required unanimous agreement by a jury in order to sentence someone to death.