TAMPA, Fla. — Hundreds of thousands of signatures have been gathered to get abortion rights on next year’s ballot. However, it will ultimately be up to the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether voters will see this constitutional amendment in 2024.

For several months, abortion rights activists have been gathering signatures to put an amendment on the ballot. The amendment says no laws can prohibit, penalize, delay or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect a patient’s health.

Heidi Davis, a volunteer with the League of Women Voters of Saint Petersburg, has helped to gather signatures. She believes abortion is a private matter between a patient and their doctor.

“We can rely on the trust and rely on our doctor to work with the patient to make the decision that needs to be made,” Davis said.

She hopes gathering the signatures is the first step towards enshrining abortion rights into Florida’s constitution, just as it was done in Ohio.

“I think that motivated us even more,” Davis said.

But not everyone is onboard with this new effort. Phyllis Esposito is the director of Tampa Bay Pro-Life Alliance. She and other anti-abortion rights organizations are working to block the initiative from the ballot.

“We want to go directly to the individuals and churches and tell them what is happening, and at a grassroot level, have people take a stand for life,” Esposito said.