Florida voters will decide in the coming weeks whether to end the state’s six-week abortion ban, which prohibits the procedure if six or more weeks have passed since conception, before most women know they’re pregnant.
Amendment 4, titled “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion,” would change the state constitution to read, “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.”
Viability is defined in Florida law as “the stage of fetal development when the life of a fetus is sustainable outside the womb through standard medical measures.” It generally occurs around 23 or 24 weeks of pregnancy.
The amendment is expected to result in increased voter turnout throughout the state, and requires 60% approval to pass.
If it passes on Nov. 5, according to Florida law, “It shall be effective as an amendment to or revision of the constitution of the state on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January following the election, or on such other date as may be specified in the amendment or revision.”
The current six-week ban was enacted by the Florida Legislature, and went into effect May 1.
The proposed initiative to allow abortions until viability was initiated by a group of citizens known as Floridians Protecting Freedom. The campaign to protect women’s access to abortion spent a year gathering the required number of signatures to put the proposed constitutional amendment on the 2024 ballot.. The group collected 996,512 signatures — more than 100,000 above the 891,523 that were needed by Feb. 1 to place the question on the ballot.
Financial Impact controversy
Additional language that will appear on the ballot — a required financial impact statement that estimates costs of any proposed amendment — has prompted controversy and legal action.
Floridians Protecting Freedom contends that the statement drafted by the state is biased, politicized and misleading to voters.
“The state of Florida weaponized this process to add deceptive and confusing language to the ballot,” the group’s website states.
“The Financial Impact Estimating Conference … must complete an analysis … of the estimated increase or decrease in any revenues or costs to state or local governments… . The analysis cannot be speculative, must be neutral, and should only include direct costs. However, the state of Florida weaponized a neutral democratic process and is using taxpayer dollars to deceive voters…,” the group’s website states.
The contested Financial Impact Statement that will be included on the ballot states, in part,
that there is “uncertainty about whether the amendment will require the state to subsidize abortions with public funds. Litigation to resolve those and other uncertainties will result in additional costs to the state government and state courts that will negatively impact the state budget. An increase in abortions may negatively affect the growth of state and local revenues over time. Because the fiscal impact of increased abortions on state and local revenues and costs cannot be estimated with precision, the total impact of the proposed amendment is indeterminate.”
The Florida ACLU also opposed the financial impact statement and criticized the Florida Supreme Court that allowed it to appear on the ballot. For more information about support of and opposition to Amendment 4, visit floridiansprotectingfreedom.com and the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops at flaccb.org/abortion-amendment.
